Officials in Northern Province have said preparations are underway ahead of a regional inter-schools’ sports competition scheduled for August 10-20 in Musanze District. Rwanda will host the annual games organised by the Federation of East African Secondary School Sports Associations (FEASSSA), a regional body. It is the second time in three years that Rwanda will be hosting the FEASSSA Games – the first time was in 2015, when they were hosted in Huye District, Southern Province. FEASSSA Games normally attract over 4,000 athletes and officials from the six EAC countries, namely; Kenya, Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan and Rwanda. Organising the games requires a lot of effort from all the stakeholders, according to officials in the host town, Musanze, which received the green light to host the competition in January after thorough inspection by the FEASSSA technical team. In an interview with Times Sport, Jean de Dieu Twagirimana, the president of School Sports Association in Musanze District, said that there are seven football grounds that will be used and, among them, three have to be renovated as advised by the technical team. “Musanze District, with various stakeholders, kicked off the process to refurbish the playgrounds in accordance with guidelines provided by the technical team to meet the standards before the team return for a second inspection,” Twagirimana said. Twagirimana added: “All is well with playgrounds which will host basketball, rugby, handball, netball, hockey, and swimming competitions.” Uniqueness In the meantime, Jean Marie Vianney Gatabazi, the Governor of Northern Province, said they want this year’s FEASSA Games to be memorable.” “We are calling upon the private sector to start getting ready by availing whatever logistics needed, including transport, to ensure successful hosting of the Games,” added the Governor. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
