Rwanda to field 20 teams in FEASSSA Games

Rwanda School Sports Federation (RSSF), has confirmed the country will be represented by a total 20 teams at the upcoming East Africa’s post-primary games slated for August 10-20 in Musanze district, Northern Province. This was confirmed to Times Sport on Monday by RSSF Technical Director Aaron Rurangirwa, who also confirmed that the country will have representatives in individual disciplines such as swimming, badminton, tennis, table tennis and athletics. “It was not at random that we picked the twenty teams, the earned the tickets. They were chosen after their impressive performances in this year’s national inter-schools’ championships. We will also field athletes in individual sports but names are not out yet,” said Rurangirwa. He further revealed that this year’s edition will be contested by around 2600 youngsters from four countries; Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and hosts Rwanda. Burundi and South Sudan are yet to confirm their participation. For the first time, the ten-day competitions will also have primary schools – over 300 young athletes from Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda – competing in football, volleyball and netball. The annual Federation of East African Secondary School Sports Association (FEASSSA) Games come to Rwanda barely three years after the country hosted the 2015 edition in Huye district. Hosting the multidisciplinary games for a third time since 2007, this year’s showdown will see youthful teams vying for medals in eleven sports namely; football, basketball, volleyball, handball, netball, rugby, athletics, hockey, swimming, badminton, tennis and table tennis. Rwanda playing host for the 2018 FEASSSA Games presents a great opportunity to promote the country’s tourism and cultural diversity to East Africans, particularly the Youth in schools. Hosting FEASSSA Games rotates among the EAC member states on an annual basis. The home teams and athletes in individual sports will start residential camp for intensive preparations on July 30, a little over a week before the event’s official opening on August 9. RSSF has confirmed that the country will have a total 100 athletes in individual sports; athletics (40), swimming (20), tennis (16), table tennis (12) and badminton (12), respectively. Full list of teams Girls volleyball: IPRC Kigali and GS.Indangaburezi Boys Volleyball: PSVF Karubanda and St Joseph Girls Basketball: ADEG and LDK Boys basketball: College Marie Reine and APE Rugunga Girls Handball: ES Gikonko and ES Kirambo Boys Handball: Col. Gisenyi and ADEG Netball (girls): ES Save and GS Gahini Rugby (boys): LDK and ASPEKA Girls Football: GS Nyange and GS Remera Rukoma Boys Football: College Karambi and CIP editorial@newtimes.co.rw