The 2019 Prescott Cup tournament kicks off on 11th May with Lenana School hosting the first leg. This year’s tournament will have two tiers unlike last year’s tournament.
Title defenders Upper Hill school are top seeds in Pool A and are joined by Muhuri Muchiri, Alliance High School, hosts Lenana School and Strathmore while Pool B comprises of Rift Valley Academy, Ofafa Jericho, Nairobi School, Mangu High School and Dagoretti High School.
The tournament will run from 11th May to July 6th when the final is expected to be hosted at the RFUEA Grounds. On 25th May, Nairobi School will host the second Festival with Alliance School hosting the third on the 1st of June.
There will be two mid-week matches that will be hosted by the home team; the first one falls between the 11th-25th of May while the second mid-week match shall be played between the 1st and the 21st of June 2019.
Prescott, Damu Changa and Damu Pevu quarterfinals will take place on the 22nd of June with the then top seeded team acting as the host.
The tournament organizers have also put in place plans to include the “I also play referee” Program this year. Volunteering pupils taking part in the league will be given an opportunity to receive their first lesson on how to referee (learning the gestures and the laws), through this program session that will be conducted at Lenana school on the 11th of May 2019 at 12 noon before the kickoff of the tournament.
‘’We saw it prudent to start bringing in players to try refereeing at an early age and to further help them in their game knowledge’’ said Mwangi Karimi, Chairman Kenya Rugby Referee Association (KRRA).
“The ratio of match officials to teams is very wanting in the country. The level of player’s law understanding is also wanting. This program is thus a good initiative which gets players starting at an early age and with time become better players and better match officials, which will impact positively on our game.”
“We are glad that KRU and KRRA have customized it to our practical situation. We plan to have two players from each participating school who have volunteered as a start, for an hour of the ‘I also play referee’ session before we start the games.” Said Alfred Okwemba who doubles up as the KRRA Secretary General and Prescott Cup Tournament Director.
‘I also play referee’ is part of the World Rugby strategy to grow the number of match officials in partnership with its member Regions and Unions. The aim of the program is to encourage players of all ages to try officiating.
The program emphasizes Rugby values to build better men and women, gives opportunity to kids to become better players through better knowledge of the rules, and create some future referees in the process in a progressive environment.
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Photo: Prescott Cup
