Sports Day

The primary schools in Kenya hold sports competitions for boys and girls beginning in late January. The sport events include volleyball, netball, handball, and football (soccer). The children from Open Arms Academy (OAA) enjoy sports, and competing against other schools in the area, with hopes of progressing to the national competition in April.

This year, OAA had teams competing in all four sports for boys and girls. The process of advancement is different than what we are accustomed to in the USA. Instead of school teams advancing when they win at a certain level, players are chosen from the final two teams (in that day’s tournament) to compete at the next level. The focus is on individual athletes rather than teams. 

(photo by Ted Whiteman)

Open Arms Academy had five girls and one boy compete at the division level on Friday, March 21^st. The girls (Ruth, Phylis, Leonida, Maureen, and Rebecca) competed in football, and the boy (Danson) played netball. The teams they played on won their games that day. All six were selected to play at the next level on district teams.  

(photo by Karleigh Vroman)

As expected, the competition at the district level was more challenging for our young athletes. The district competition was held on Friday, March 28^th. All of our OAA students competed well. 

The five football girls were selected for the next level of competition! Their selection to the county team is the furthest any of our OAA student-athletes have ever advanced! They will play three games at the county competition, which will take place on Friday, April 4^th.

There are three more levels of competition for the primary schools– county, regional, national. With God’s help, our female OAA student-athletes will continue to advance in the competitions.

We are very proud of our OAA athletes!