Phase 1 of a stadium being constructed at Thangathi Village of Murang’a County is complete.
St. Sebastian Stadium which is sponsored by a well-wisher has started hosting games giving reprieve to teams from the county which have been seeking for better playground to host games.
Five years ago, a lawyer, Robert Wanyoike Macharia started to mobilize recourses towards construction of the stadium on the outskirts of Murang’a town, a move which has been lauded by many.
The Sh.350 million facility on Saturday hosted first soccer match between Murang’a Sports Enterprise Academy (Mseal) team with Shaban FC from Kisii County.
Mseal team has been under sponsorship of Macharia for long time with players complaining for lack of standard playground in the county.
Macharia has said the playground will give opportunities to thousands of young people who are interested to nurture their talents.
He said after phase one, he is searching for more well-wishers to help complete the facility and make it a national standard.
“Am seeking for support from well-wishers to complete my dream and help the talented youth in Murang’a,” said Macharia.
Macharia, a lawyer who has passion in sports, came up with the concept for a stadium after he was asked to part with Sh. 25,000 per session when Mseal was hosting teams from other regions.
“Since Thika was registered as our home ground we had to pay Kiambu county Government Sh. 25,000, which is too much,” said Macharia.
Stephen Kiama, a Manager of Shabana FC called on the county governments to take sports as a devolved function and support the players by improving local play grounds.
Many counties, he noted, have neglected sports by ignoring stadiums and not sponsoring various teams.
“In Kenya, only Kisii, Kakamega and Vihiga counties have utilized their sports kitty of Sh. 2 million annually effectively,” said Kiama.
The Murang’a County Youth and Sport Executive, Edward Muiruri said the sports ground will be improved.
“There is a budget to improve the playing grounds. There are experts working on the designs for Ihura and Mumbi grounds both in Murang’a town,” said Muiruri.
By Bernard Munyao
