Rift Valley Lakers gearing up for second edition of Future’s Cup

Rift Valley age-grade team: The Lakers have intensified preparation ahead of the second edition of the Future’s Cup, slated for July 12–14.

The Future’s Cup is an age-grade tournament organized by Dream Believe Achieve (DBA) Africa in partnership with the Kenya Rugby Union and the Uganda Rugby Union.

It gives talented players under 15 an opportunity to showcase their skills.

The inaugural edition was hosted from July 14–16 at St. Christopher's School in Nairobi.

It attracted a total of eight U15 regional teams, including Central, Coastal, Rift Valley, two Nairobi sides, and a team from Kampala.

The Rift Valley Lakers won the edition following a 10-5 victory over Uganda's Kampala Giants in the final.

Part of sharpening their skills was hosting a three-day boys and girls under-15 camp at St. Andrew’s School Turi. The camp was hosted from April 19–21.

Zetech Oaks and TUM Marines secure KRU Championship Promotion

Mozzart Sport interviewed the camp’s brainchild, Mike Okidia, who revealed that the camp was meant to shape the future of the young crop of rugby players.

“The High-Performance Camp was designed to replicate a week in the life of a professional rugby player. We were inspired by our vision to not only develop better rugby players but also better people, these camps will challenge each individual on and off the pitch,” he started.

Besides the Future’s Cup, Okidia noted that the camp was meant to inspire girls’ rugby in the school.

He was confident that involving them in high-intensity matches at a young age was crucial to accelerating the growth of the sport.

“Our objective was to use the camp to ignite girls’ rugby at St Andrew’s Turi. Girls’ rugby is successful at the community level, and we wanted the girls from our age grade centres in Rift Valley to inspire girls at the school to play and stay in the game,” Okidia told Mozzart Sport.

Hosting a camp for both girls and boys can be challenging, considering the time and financial demands. Okidia was, however, grateful to the school for their support in making it a resounding success.

“The expansive St Andrew’s School Campus and support from the school made things very easy. Both boys and girls had their training sessions separately and only met for breaks, meals, and socializing,” he disclosed.

Rugby Super Series: Lions off to positive start as Buffaloes stumble

He was further excited that, besides rugby skills, the camp equipped the players with the skills necessary to survive in today’s world. This was in line with their mantra of building champions and, in turn, building community.

“Rugby is a tool we use to mentor young boys and girls. They learned skills like confidence, timekeeping, awareness, building a positive environment, and good leadership.

“The Rift Valley Age Grade Rugby Academy’s vision is to provide a facilitative learning environment that inspires and maximizes people development through high-quality shared experiences and relationships,” he averred.

With the success of the camp now behind them and the school reopening dates postponed, Okidia noted that the aim was to host more camps in the region.

“We hope to make this a regular event. We want to be the hub of age-grade rugby development in the country. I work with a team of very gifted and committed coaches who love children. I appreciate the guidance, leadership and dedication of Victor Oduor, John Theuri, David Oloo, Meshack Otieno, and Moses Amuko,” he concluded.