Technical University of Mombasa hosted female students from seventeen (17) Universities across the country on 5 th to 7 th March, 2021 for the KUSA Annual Women Games. This is an annual event held to commemorate the International Women’s Day which is celebrated on the 1 st of March in every calendar year. The international event theme focused on gender equality under the hashtag ‘Choose to Challenge’ (https://twitter.com/hashtag/ChooseToChallenge?src=hashtag_click ). The organisers used the event as a platform to encourage young women to take up sporting challenges specifically motivated by the need to increase the number of women in sports. The theme also highlighted the importance of sport- related activities as a mechanism of boosting immunity against COVID-19. The theme for the event was ‘Women in Sports: Achieving an Equal Future in a COVID-19 World.”
The University management through its Academic division under the Stewardship of Prof. Peter Gichangi fully supported the event. The KUSA executive led by its President Mbaabu Murithi had earlier met the Vice Chancellor Prof. Laila Abubakar to explain the finer details of the Competition and also seek her blessings.
The University through the Sports and Games Officer Mr. Anthony Mwanzia and the appointed Local Organizing Committee mobilised resources for Event sponsorship. Several University Partners came forward to offer their support including Premier Hospital, Mewa Hospital and Jamim Emergency and Ambulance Services which gave an ambulance each for the three event days. Others included Supa Loaf Bakers Company Limited which painted and branded three University basketball courts which were used during the event. Mombasa Cement and Kenya Commercial Bank supported the Contest by providing trophies for the winners.
The event was graced by Mr Joel Awino who is the Dean of Students at Technical University of Mombasa. Mr Awino stated that it was a great honour for the University to host the games and applauded everyone who took part in organising and participating in the event. He also informed all who were present that the University had complied with the guidelines set by the Ministry of Health on containing and preventing the spread of COVID-19 and thanked everyone for their cooperation.
Speaking at the Closing Ceremony of the Championships, the KUSA President Mr. Murithi applauded Technical University of Mombasa for the warm welcome and further noted that the Association was working hard to bring on board more Institutions.
The Assistant Sports Officer, Mr. Stephen Juba, reiterated that it was in the best interest of every University to register for such events to help female students exploit their talents. His sentiments were echoed by the KUSA Secretary General, Sandagi Joseph of Kaimosi friends’ University College.
Some of the Universities that participated in the event included, Karatina University, Daystar University, Technical University of Kenya, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, University of Nairobi, Meru University, Kisii University, and Dedan Kimathi University of Technology among others.
The Championship gave the higher Institutions of learning a chance to take part in close to ten (10) Sport disciplines: Basketball, wood ball, badminton, softball, hockey, volleyball, table tennis, netball and athletics.
The TUM Softball team proved to be the real champion in the game with the team emerging top. The Team faced Kenyatta University in the round robin; they thrashed KU 8-7 runs in the last inning while Meru University conceded defeat to TUM finishing with 15-2 runs in the final inning.
The TUM Wood Ball team emerged the first runners up in the game and earned the University a Silver medal. We also acknowledge with a lot of appreciation the effort made by all the other University teams.
“Congratulations to the TUM Softball team and TUM Wood Ball team for making us extremely proud!”
