Laiser Hill eye maiden ARS crown

Laiser Hill Academy Laiser Hills David Owino, left, and Ali Khamisi of Olympic High School during Metropolitan Secondary School Games term 2B at Upper Hill School

Laiser Hill Academy have their eyes on their first ever Airtel Rising Stars (ARS) national boys football title.

The reigning Metropolitan champions are determined to make it happen at this year's Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) Term Two B games set for next week in Kisumu.

Brimming with confidence, Julius Oketch who stirred his side to Metropolitan glory told Feverpitch that they were focused on excelling and going to East Africa as national champions.

''We all believe that with hard work and determination we will achieve all our objectives. We are all committed to this course and desire to qualify for East Africa games as the best team in the country,'' Oketch said.

His sentiments were echoed by coach Anthony Kirimi who said that his charges have an uphill task. ''They have a tough task ahead because the standards have gone up and other schools have fought for recognition and places in the nationals by beating the giants. Even so, my desire is that they play better than they did last year,'' Kirimi said.

Laiser Hill came close to winning the 2015 crown but lost 1-0 to Passenga to settle for second best. An improvement on their performance only means that they have to snatch the national crown. They will rely on the services of Oketch midfielder Musa Masika, who contributed immensely to their success last year and also at the Metropolitan games.

Others will be Peter Kinjanjui, Chris Owino, Sheldon Ouma and David Owino who were instrumental at the regional games.

They will begin their campaign in pool B, which also has defending champions Passenga, Coast champions Green Palm Academy and Northern representatives. Their priority is to excel at the group stage and secure their semi-finals slot.