Handball: NCPB and Nairobi Water emerge champions as multimillion handball court unveiled in Kaloleni

PHOTO: COURTESY CAPTION: Action during the Just Be Master Talent Search Handball Tournament to mark the unveiling of the new multimillion court in Kaloleni, Nairobi Ends

A multi million handball court meant to tap and nurture talent has been unveiled in Kaloleni slums in Nairobi.

The state of the art facility has been made possible by the effort of Kenyan international Brian Mathew and the Makadara Constituency Development Fund.

In order to celebrate this great mileage, a high profile tournament dubbed Just Be Master Handball Talent Search was organized by Denmark based Brian Mathew to commemorate the unveiling of the facility.

The tournament was contested by over 20 teams in both junior and senior categories. National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) managed to beat Strathmore University 25-17 to lift the men’s contest.NCPB had won their earlier encounter in the preliminaries 20-15.

NCPB’s Elvin Otieno was the marksman in the crunch final as he scored eight goals; his team mate Thodosia Sangoro added five.

Contributing for the losers were Jackson Maloba, Richard Momanyi, Rashid Ingwela and Simon Mutuku who scored three goals each.

On their way to the final, Strathmore labored to defeat Black Mamba 21-19 while NCPB overwhelmed St Paul’s University with a 29-20 win. Black Mamba won the third place playoff against St. Paul’s University.

Nairobi Water won the women’s contest after beating NCPB 21-15 in the final. Nairobi Water had won their early encounter in the preliminaries 29-23.

 “It was a good tournament for us considering that most of our key players were away. I decided to give the young and upcoming players a chance and they proved themselves. The tournament gave them exposure and experience,” Nairobi Water head coach Jack Ochieng said.

Lenana High School were the boy’s junior winners after they edged out Black Mamba and Aquinas High school from the title.

Mathew, who is also the tournament CEO, lauded the event saying it was a success going by the caliber of teams that took part in the contest as well as with the record attendance by fans.

 “I started my handball career here in Kaloleni. This facility is meant to give back to the society. I am hopeful that it will nurture other talents who will eventually find their way for professional stints in Europe,” Mathew said.

“This court will be a plus in the country since most teams will be stepping up their training here for their local and international meets,” Mathew added.

Makadara MP Benson Mutura while welcoming the new development stated that the Sh3million handball facility joins the rank of Camp Toyoyo Stadium that is nurturing football talent in the constituency.

“Sports is our cash crop here in Makadara. Apart from the handball court and the Camp Toyoyo Stadium, Makadara also prides itself as a constituency with a state of the art swimming pool at Rabai School,” said Mutura.

QUOTE

“Apart from the contests, we used the tournament during the unveiling of the new court to preach peace ahead of the election.”Denmark based handball player Brian Mathew.

UTILITIES

Just Be Master Talent Search Tournament

Men’s winner-NCPB

Women’s winner-Nairobi Water

Junior winner-Lenana High School