East Africa Cup Tournament

After months of waiting, the biggest sports event in East Africa is here!! Yes! and it is no other than the East Africa Cup Tournament!

The East Africa Cup tournament is a sports event that takes place every year in Moshi, Tanzania, and brings together youth teams from across East Africa including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Sudan. BYC has in the past participated in this auspicious event. The East Africa Cup has provided a proper avenue for development of young people through sports, and also cultural exchange and learning. It provides a platform for training in life skills. It mixes football with first aid and is a training event for local coaches and leaders so that they too gain from the experience by learning more about things like sports medicine, refereeing, coaching and community youth participation.

BYC is taking with them four teams and these include;

Under 13 girls’ and Under 13 boys’ teams

Under 16 girls’ and Under 16 boys’ teams

The journey has not been easy for BYC especially in raising funds in order to participate in this event since transport costs were upon the teams themselves. There has been constant knocking on people’s doors, drafting letters and proposals just to be able to secure funding, though the centre has not been successful in this area.  Fortunately parents of the children chosen to be in the teams have really been cooperative and contributed immensely, able to raise transport costs for their children. This shows the importance of community support in BYC’s intervention in the community. BYC’s friends have also contributed to some costs since they understand the importance of sports to young people’s development. Not forgetting to mention the tireless efforts done by BYC’s volunteers in their constant reminding of parents and preparing the teams for this event.

Thus we wish BYC’s teams all the best and a safe trip as they travel to Moshi to take part in the East Africa Cup.

BYC Kiwalani does it again!!

After beating True Boys 2-0 on 24th May quarter finals, BYC Kiwalani went on again to beat Machimbo FC in the first semi-finals away match of the Kitunda Family. This match took place on the 7th of June at Machimbo grounds in Kiwalani.

The Under-16 boys of of BYC were very thrilled and excited for winning and are optimistic that they will make it to the finals. The second semi-final match to be played at home will take place on Monday 11th and this will determine if the boys get to play in the finals.

The Champions of the Cup will walk away with a full set of  football jerseys and two goats. Well, we hope they win because there is going to be an awesome celebration of 'Nyama Choma' if they get the two goats!

However BYC Kiwalani's victory does not come easy. The boys have to walk at least 7 kilometres just to reach the football grounds of Kitunda, and they have to practise alot. Their commitment and hard work are things to admire from these boys, from coming for practice every evening to walking long distances just to take part in sports. They also sometimes contribute a small amount of money to make sure they get something to eat before they leave for the match. But at the end of the day, the challenges that these teams go through are just a stepping stone to victory! We wish them all the best in the forthcoming matches.

The Kitunda Family Cup is organised by Kitunda Army Camp (JWTZ) of Tanzania who through the cup aim to promote football in their community and also to bring youth together.

BYC Kiwalani Shines!

Check out this news article! written on Superstar sports newspaper on the 26th May 2012.

BYC managed to beat True Boys 2-0 in a march played on the 24th May at Kitunda Jeshini in Dar es salaam. Great job BYC Kiwalani!

Copa Coca Cola Tournament

So the Copa cocacola tournament that Buguruni Youth Centre participated, ended on 27th May on a good note. BYC managed to scoop the second position and were awarded cocacola T-shirts of which each boy got one! This is very good news for us BYC, and it shows that the volunteer coaches, are doing a very good job to nurture and improve football talents at the centre. Keep up the good work and well done to our boys!!

Ongoing event: Copa Cocacola League

BYC's under 17 football teams is participating in the Cocacola football tournament being held at Benjamin Mkapa grounds.

The match fixture are as follows;

13th May        BYC vs Tabata United - 9.30 a.m.
15th May        BYC vs Segerea           - 3.00 p.m.
17th May        BYC vs Burembo         - 3.00 p.m.

On Sunday the 13th May Buguruni drew 1-1 against Tabata United. This was a nice start for our team and we hope that they will perform best in the coming matches today and on the 17th. This is not the first time that BYC is participating in the tournament. Last year, BYC managed to reach up to the finals in Tabata district.

The Cocacola tournament had draws participants from all over the district and is aimed at identifying talents. The tournament is played in three stages, district level, where best teams combine and compete at the regional level and then the regional championships determine the best combined team for the national finals.

According to a Daily News online article  published on 11th February, the national finals have become a major pillar for Tanzania football and a source of excitement for football fans that flock Copa coca-cola matches in their thousands to witness the young players talents. The best teams and individual players win medals, trophies and cash prices.

Copa Coca-Cola Company, sponsors of the under-17 national football championships, have  doubled cash prizes for the tournament's national champions from 4.5m/- to 8m/- effective this year and has also introduced 800,000/- cash prize to best referee of the national finals. Thus its going to be quite a competitive event.

These avenues like the copa coca-cola tournaments expose young players to best training facilities, best coaches  and players get an opportunity to rub shoulders with fellow young players and experienced football experts from other countries when the best copa coca-cola players are sent to international training and competitive camps.