Githunguri Youth Sports Association

Githunguri Youth Sports Association (GYSA) is a sports and rehabilitation center whose mission is to mentor and empower youth from served communities using sports as a mobilization tool, was founded in 2001 and is registered in Kiambu County in the Republic of Kenya.

GYSA is currently empowering over 2,000 youth in Kiambu and Lamu counties in Kenya. It uses radicalization to pull the youth below the age of 17 from being recruited into illegal groupings, drugs and substance abuse. In partnership with the National and county government departments, GYSA has organized events at community levels and schools to fight vice and for keeping the youths busy and healthy.

GYSA is managed by a board of trustees who have devoted their time and resources to volunteer support to the objectives of their programs. The staff currently comprises of a team of 30 program staff and coaches/referees. They have organized youth into teams and each team has a coach and a team manager who are trained youth educators. Fair play and community services are greatly emphasized. All players are trained to be role models, thus enhancing their personal development. During the sports tournaments, the youth educators facilitate capacity building sessions in life skills, drugs and substance abuse, HIV/AIDS and career counselling and mentor-ship. For the swelling numbers they worked out a strategy to keep the youth busy throughout, and this led to the formation of leagues with different themes. As an exit strategy for the 18 to 35 year old, we are incorporating enterprise development training and sensitization on Government procurement opportunities available for youth.