The Ministry of Education through the Federation of Rwanda School Sports (FRSS) is preparing to field 12 teams of 152 Rwandan secondary school players in the 19th Federation of East Africa Secondary Schools Sports Associations (FEASSSA) games to be held in Arusha City-Tanzania from 14-26 September 2022.
These 83 boys and 69 girls to represent Rwanda in FEASSSA championships 2022 come from 12 qualified teams in secondary school games like football, volleyball, basketball, and handball and individual disciplines such as tennis, table tennis, and athletics.
The qualified teams are as follows:
. Football girls: 20 players from IPM Mukarange in Kayonza District
. Football boys: 20 players from ES Gasiza in Rulindo District
. Volleyball girls: 12 players from IPRC Kigali in Kicukiro District
. Volleyball boys: 12 players from ESSA Nyarugunga in Kicukiro District
. Basketball girls: 12 Players from Lycée de Kigali in Nyarugenge District
. Basketball boys: 12 players from Lycée de Kigali in Nyarugenge District
. Handball girls: 14 players from Kiziguro SS in Gatsibo District
. Handball boys: two teams composed of 28 players from ESEKI Kigoma in Ruhango District and ADEGI in Gatsibo District.
. Table tennis: 12 players of whom 6 girls and 6 boys
. Athletics: 10 players of whom 5 girls and 5 boys.
The road to FEASSSA games started in February 2022 whereby different secondary school teams were competing for qualification from sector level to National level. Ahead of FEASSSA games launch in Arusha, qualified Rwandan teams have started intensive training camps from 23/8/2022 at their respective schools.
FEASSSA games is a championship of 13 different sporting disciplines, including swimming, athletics, football, netball, hockey, rugby, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, lawn tennis, badminton, and goal ball among others. The participants of this event are the players from qualified teams (2 teams in each discipline) in the competitions among all member countries at national level schools.
This competition aims at nurturing the “East African Spirit” by enabling secondary school students to visit different geographical sites in East Africa while also learning and interacting with different cultures during the competitions. FEASSSA competitions started in 2002 and are organized annually, rotating in all EAC Member States except in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Rwanda became a member of FEASSSA in 2005 and since then has participated each year in the competitions and hosted FEASSSA three times as follows:
. The 8th Edition in 2008 in Kigali.
. The 15th Edition in 2015 in Huye district,
. The 18th Edition in 2018 in Musanze district.
Member countries of FEASSSA are Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Burundi, and South Sudan. The Head office is in Nairobi / Kenya.
It is expected that on 12/09/2022, the Rwandan delegation will gather at GS St Aloys in Rwamagana district/ Eastern Province for briefing and handover of the National flag ahead of the departure to Arusha scheduled on 13/09/2022 early morning. (End)