The Saul Hull Under 13 tournament drew to an exciting climax this weekend in the Kenyan bush! Sixteen teams made up of GAFFER’s youngest talent have been battling it out to see which village has the finest youngstars! Alongside the football action Sexual Health professionals were on hand to offer advice and testing for HIV.

The tournament is played annually in honour of Saul Hull, one of GAFFER’s greatest supporters. It takes teams made up of players in every village in the area GAFFER works and splits them into four groups with the top two of each going through to the final stages. The competition this year has been intense and the high level of training given by the team coaches under the supervision of GAFFER’s head coach, Titus Eluid, has ensured the standard is improving week by week!

The third place playoff saw Kale FC take on Makwasinyi village in an action packed encounter that went all the way to penalties! Makwasinyi held their nerve and took the victory and the 3rd place prize of a good sized goat! The final was to follow and saw two of GAFFER’s most improved young teams fight it out! Sasenyi and the local boys Itinyi lined up to see who would be crowned champions of 2011!! The game was intense and after Itinyi took an early lead Sasenyi had chance after chance to level the score. But some good luck and goalkeeping heroics prevented Sasenyi breaking the deadlock and the boys of Itinyi ruled the day!

After the celebrations had died down it was time for GAFFER to announce the names of the best players from all the teams who would go on to a week long training camp to create GAFFER Youngstars U13. This team has been invited to a Province wide tournament in the Coast in a couple of weeks time! Good luck to them!

As well as the football St Josephs of Voi provided four professional HIV counselors. Sixty people now know their HIV status which is vital in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Well done guys!!

All this is made possible by an annual fundraising party attended by all who know and love Saul. Thank you guys!

At the end of November GAFFER Youngstars traveled to the Coast to face the finest of Mombasa’s footballing youth! Hailing from villages in Taita Taveta GAFFER Youngstars were hand picked from sixteen villages in the area. Having proven themselves in Voi division it was time to take on the toughest boys in Coast Province, if not in Kenya!

Mombasa Combined Charity Academy features players from around Mombasa with teams such as Mombasa Sports Club and Jomvu Boys represented. With excellent coaching from Isa and Rila the team has been selected for an International Tournament in Tanzania in December. The match took place at Makupa Primary School field with a full PA soundsystem accompanying the football spectacle that the enthusiastic supporters were treated to! As soon as the game kicked off it was clear that the Mombasa locals were serious opposition. With calm passing under pressure and great ball skills it was like watching a young Arsenal team command the midfield. Emmanuel of Jomvu made up for his small frame with testing balls up field aimed at the striking powerhouse Omari who sprinted through on goal several times in the first half. But the Youngstars held the line and took the lead through Kimega of Rukanga Village early on. Mombasa responded with Omari rattling the bar with a free kick that Didier Drogba himself would have been proud of! The standard of football was fantastic with Mombasa stars such as Hassan and Ali giving the Youngstars a tough game. However brilliant goals from Emmanuel and Thomas added to Kimega’s second and the GAFFER team took the victory 4-3.

Once again the incredible hospitality of the Mombasa locals made the weekend a great experience for everyone involved! The football was fantastic and Mr Mohamed, James, Titus and Ben at GAFFER would like to thank Mombasa Combined Charity Academy for the warm welcome! GAFFER Youngstars are back to the bush now but will be training hard to ensure they return to the coast for more football action soon!

This year the GAFFER Youngstars have been funded by Dev’s Kili climb and his kind supporters – thanks guys!

The Saul Hull Under 13 Tournament kicked off last weekend with four teams battling for the first three points. Played in memory of one of GAFFER's greatest supporters the games showcase the youngest footballing talent in the area!

Jora played against Rukanga in the first game which was played at Jora, while Bungule played against Makwasinyi at Bungule primary school.
In this regard, Jora beat Rukanga 7-1. This was the biggest result Jora got in the history of the two teams. No one has ever beaten the other one more than 5 goals since GAFFER started many years back.
Bungule were beaten at home by Makwasinyi 3-1. The winners were happy with the results and they promised to keep the results all the way to win the league. Everyone was amazed by Makwasinyi's display bearing in mind that their under 16s team was beaten 3-0 by Bungule during their opening match at the same venue last season.

Blog by Jimmy Ruwa.

This week saw GAFFER’s most promising young footballers attend a training camp in preparation for games far from home! Hand picked from the sixteen teams that entered the Andrew Murch Under 16 Trophy they promise to be the toughest Youngstars yet!

Each year GAFFER selects the best of its youth players to assemble a squad that will represent the villages against teams in the nearby towns and cities. The week long training camp brings the young men together to eat, sleep and train alongside each other. Under the watchful eyes of coaches Mr Mohamed and Titus Eluid, a bunch of individual talents are transformed into a formidable footballing force! Five days of fitness, ball work and classroom sessions culminated in a warm up game against the local mens team, The Samba Boys. Despite the age and size difference the Youngstars showed their skills and took an emphatic victory by two goals to one! The first proper game will be in a week’s time when the Youngstars travel to Mwatate town. Good luck lads!

The training camp and tour matches have been made possible by Dev’s Kili Climb and his kind supporters! A massive thank you to those involved from all at GAFFER!

The cream of GAFFER’s Under 16 football teams went head to head this weekend to decide the 2011 Champions! After weeks of tough competition there could only be one winner!

The day began with the third place play off where Itinyi met Rukanga and played out a thrilling game that was settled with a pair of stunning goals scored by Rukanga’s Mterengo in the last five minutes! It was then time for the main event to be played in front of hundreds of spectators. The small villages of Jora and Kale don’t usually get a look in at this level. However the dedication and hours of training have come good for the young players of these two up and coming teams. Players as young as 12 years old battled it out in an exciting and well played game that was still goalless at half time. In the second half Jora started to dominate and mid-fielder Jeremiah Joshua ruled the centre of the park before drilling home the winner just before time! Jora were crowned the 2011 Andrew Murch Under 16 champions! Well done lads!

As well as the football action, GAFFER Health once again teamed up with St Josephs of Voi to set up a Voluntary Counseling and Testing facility that would allow the assembled crowd to know their status should they wish to. In all 153 people had professional counseling and were tested for HIV. Thanks to St Josephs for the support once again!

The first GAFFER Girls team made their debut outside the villages this weekend! With a formidable set of fixtures in the city of Mombasa, the youngsters made GAFFER proud with some great football!

The young ladies all hail from Buguta Primary School where the games teacher, Mr. Mshila, has worked hard to create GAFFER’s first competitive girls team. After a training weekend with the GAFFER coaches it was time to travel to Mombasa to face some serious opposition. The weekend began with a warm up game playing a team of beach boys the white sands of Mombasa’s coastline. For many of the girls it was the first time to see the seaside of their country. It was then time for a serious game was against Coast Queens, the Coast champions! Playing on grass for the first time the team from the Villages shocked all spectators by taking lead after just five minutes. The lead was doubled by half time and the Queens called in reinforcements in the form of the adult ladies team. The older girls soon turned the game around but could not do enough to take the lead and the match finished 2-2. A brilliant result in the face of tough opposition. The weekend finished with a tour of Mombasa conducted by GAFFER coach Mr. Mohamed and a friendly match against the boys of Mombasa Sports Club. The boys easily beat GAFFER Girls but the experience of playing at the best stadium in the city was a great experience for all involved!

The whole event was funded by Dev’s Kili climb and his kind supporters – thanks guys! GAFFER would also like to thank Coast Queens for taking girls football to the next level in Mombasa!

After weeks of hard fought games the finest young stars of GAFFER’s teams have battled their way to within just 90 minutes of the biggest final of their lives!

The Semi-Finals are due to be played this coming weekend and feature neighbouring villages and long standing rivals Jora and Rukanga villages facing off on Saturday. On Sunday another derby will see Itinyi Village take on Kale for a spot in the big final! The standard of football is improving at a great rate in Kasigau and from a league traditionally dominated by bigger teams; it is fantastic to see that training can pay off so sweetly for these young guys from the smaller villages. All at GAFFER are excited by the prospect of selecting the next GAFFER Youngstars from the finest players from the teams that have played so hard in the qualifying stages! We have a date with the big boys in Mombasa and are looking to take our first Under-16 victory in the big city in 2011!

Dev had supported GAFFER over the years and has finally decided its time to go that extra mile (or 3.68 miles vertical to be exact!) for his favourite project!

Dev reached the summit of Africa’s highest peak on the 10th of June. As the sun rose over the plains below it was possible to look down and see the area where GAFFER works so hard to promote sport and health in Kenya. This amazing personal achievement will live on with the guys and girls GAFFER works with thanks to generous supporters who managed to raise over ₤1500 for the project! Well done young bwana!!

GAFFER Health is facilitating an exciting new project on behalf of a pair of Swedish Health Professionals who have been working in Kenya! Washable sanitary towels which will help the young ladies in the area to feel comfortable and prevent their cycles from interrupting their education.

Eva-Karin Gotting and Maria Mjobo are nurses from Sweden and had been working in the hospitals in the nearest town of Voi. They identified that girls were missing school during their periods as they had no access to sanitary towels due to their cost. Two of the GAFFER Health staff have been trained previously in fabricating washable sanitary towels from cotton and toweling materials. For a variety of reasons the age of girls at the Primary schools GAFFER works runs up to 17 years old. This results in many students experiencing their periods during school. Eva and Maria provided funding for materials and GAFFER Health are facilitating training days in each of our 15 schools. Each training day will get 60 – 80 young ladies to make two washable sanitary towels each. GAFFER hopes this will help the young ladies to be more confident and not miss vital education time! Well done to all involved!

For the first time in many years GAFFER Sport has decided it is time for a team made up of young ladies to show their stuff in Kasigau and beyond!!

Buguta Primary School is the biggest in the region where GAFFER operates. With over a thousand children and very limited resources there is very little scope for taking part in team sports. GAFFER has worked with the Under 13 and Under 16 year old boys but the girls have had to watch from the sidelines. Not any more! With the help of a pair of fantastic teachers and a hard working Peace Corps volunteer Buguta now has a girl’s team of note! GAFFER has organized two training weekends with formal coaching sessions and plenty of team building to prepare the girls for a tour of Mombasa in July! Most of these young ladies have never even visited East Africa’s largest seaside city so aside from the football it should be an amazing weekend! Watch this space for all the action…