Players and a packed crowd at a Moran Pool Club tournament in Loitokitok

Somewhere to go. Something to aim for.

Give village youth somewhere to go

Young people in rural Kenya have no courts, no pools and no youth centres. Mostly they have a pool table in a dim iron-sheet shed. We turn that table into a tournament, a network and, next, a proper youth space.

Partner with us See the tournaments

Proudly backed bylocal businesses putting up the prize money

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Players at the Moran Pool Club Arena in Kimana

Now open · Kimana

We opened our own arena

The Moran Pool Club Arena at Osupuko Resort (Kwa Biwott) in Kimana is our first home: proper tables, good lights and a room built for the game. Come and play, bring a friend, and catch the next tournament there.

See the Arena Get directions

By the numbers

Tournaments on the record

Worked out from the results and prize tables of every tournament we have run.

Tournaments run

in 3 towns

131

Player entries

16 to 32 per tournament

Prize places paid

top 3 to top 5

20,000

Biggest winner's pot

KES, first place

Prize pool per tournament

KES, prize money paid at each tournament

+94% since the first tournament

17,500

Melamela I · Illasit

1st10,000
2nd5,000
3rd2,500

35,000

Melamela II · Illasit

1st20,000
2nd10,000
3rd5,000

17,500

Mashuaz · Loitokitok

1st10,000
2nd5,000
3rd2,500

21,000

Melamela III · Illasit

1st11,500
2nd6,000
3rd3,500

34,000

King's Pool · Loitokitok

1st15,000
2nd8,500
3rd5,000
4th4,000
5th1,500

34,000

Penety · Loitokitok

1st15,000
2nd9,000
3rd5,000
4th3,500
5th1,500

34,000

MCA Kuya Tournament · Kimana

1st15,000
2nd9,000
3rd5,000
4th3,500
5th1,500

Melamela I

May 2025

Melamela II

Jun 2026

Mashuaz

Aug 2026

Melamela III

Aug 2026

King's Pool

Sept 2026

Penety

Oct 2026

MCA Kuya Tournament

Oct 2026

The problem

Pool is not the problem. Having nowhere else to go is.

In Kenya, pool has a bad name. It is tied to idlers, to miraa and muguka chewers, to “people with no future”. Police have used force on young people whose only offence was a game of pool.

That weight falls hardest on rural youth. Young people in town can choose from gyms, courts, clubs and cinemas. In the village there are no basketball, tennis or squash courts. The few swimming pools cost more than anyone can pay. There is nowhere indoors to play table tennis, draughts or scrabble.

So they get football and a pool table in a dingy mabati joint, where drugs and alcohol are always within reach.

A village pool joint at night: iron-sheet roof, dirt floor, crowd of young men

The question nobody answers

“What do you want these young people to do? Where do you want them to go?”

People tell village youth to stay away from drugs and alcohol, then write off the one pastime they have. Pool has made multi-millionaires in Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia. Kenya is catching on too: SportPesa has sponsored a countrywide pool tournament. We think the game can be a way out, not a dead end.

What we do

A tournament is not just another game night.

We run organised, well-run pool tournaments in Illasit and Loitokitok. We pay out real prize money, keep a public bracket and bring together people from every walk of life. For a young person who is used to dim back rooms, a tournament opens a door.

Prize money

Real cash for real skill, paid on the night. For many players it is the most they have earned in a week.

A network

Players meet business owners, leaders and older people in the community who once felt out of reach. Some have closed deals on the night.

Community

A new friend, a new crowd, a place to belong. People come to watch and stay to cheer.

A new question

Some find a real talent. Others start to question where they are in life and where they want to go.

A player lines up a shot as a mixed crowd of young men and women watches at the King's Pool Tournament

“And slowly, the harmony begins.”

Look at who is around the table on a tournament night. Young men and women, older and influential people from town, people from every walk of life, all watching the same rack. For one evening nobody is an idler. Everyone is a player, a fan or a sponsor.

The young man who always sat in the dark corner now has a new friend and a community. He may walk away with a business lead or a talent he never knew he had. He may also start to ask where his life is going, and whether he can get there.

Melamela Bar & Restaurant

Champion

Country Boy

KES 35,000

16 May 2025 · Illasit

Melamela Pool Tournament I

Melamela Bar & Restaurant

Champion

Fredy

KES 17,500

Every match, on the big screen

A bracket the whole room can follow

Every tournament gets a live bracket that we cast to the TV at the venue, so the crowd can follow every rack. Seeds, scores and the road to the final, just like the pros.

See the MCA Kuya Tournament bracket Try the TV view

The tournament bracket on a TV above the tables at Mashuaz Grill & Lounge, Loitokitok

A bright, well-run pool room with the bracket on the TV at Mashuaz Grill & Lounge, Loitokitok

What comes next

A youth space of our own

Tournaments are how we start. One of the biggest goals of Digital Moran CBO is to build youth spaces in the village: clean, safe, well-lit places where young people can play, stay away from drugs and alcohol, and think about their futures calmly and positively.

Pool tables and cues, without the bar
Table tennis, draughts and scrabble
A room to study, meet and plan
A link to Digital Moran's free digital skills training

Help build it

From the blog

The story behind the game

All stories →

A packed crowd around the final table at the Penety Pool Tournament in Loitokitok

Tournaments · 8 October 2026

Nineteen players, one last rack: the Penety Pool Tournament

Our biggest field yet packed Mashuaz Grill & Lounge in Loitokitok on 3 October. Country Boy took the title 5–4 in a final that went to the very last rack.

Read the story →

Players and spectators around a pool table at a Moran Pool Club tournament

Youth · 7 October 2026

Soccer, pool and nothing else: why we take the village pool table seriously

In the villages of Kajiado South, young people have two pastimes: football and pool. One of them has been demonised. At Digital Moran, we are here to change that.

Read the story →

Youth · 6 October 2026

Muguka, idleness and a better way to spend an afternoon

Muguka farms have spread across Kajiado, and too many young people are wasting away chewing it with nothing else to do. We are using pool to offer them something better.

Read the story →

Part of the Digital Moran ecosystem

Moran Pool Club is an initiative of Digital Moran CBO, a grassroots organisation in Kimana that has trained over 5,000 rural youth in digital skills, and a sister to Moran Farms. We share one belief: rural youth need tools, not handouts.

Why pool? →

Join the club

Play, watch or just follow along

Our WhatsApp group is where we announce tournaments, share brackets and results, and call for players. Everyone is welcome.

Join our WhatsApp group

Partner with us

Sponsor a tournament. Equip a youth space. Back a player.

Our prize pools have doubled since our first tournament, from KES 17,500 to as much as KES 35,000. Your support keeps them growing while we build a permanent space.

Ways to partner Talk to us on WhatsApp