Who will stop Tartar machine?

Nzoia Region has arguably some of the best teams in secondary school games. And the list of teams that have qualified for the Airtel Nzoia Region Secondary School Championships reveal who is who in football ranks of the expansive area that is made up of eight counties.

In the football girls' category, East African Games champions and National silver medalists Tartar of Pokot West are eager to rise to retain the region trophy and advance.

Tartar head coach Julius Natoka is certain that his team that has two National titles (2011 and 2012) and one East African crown (2013) will rule the roost at the games.

"Our target for last year was to win both the National and East African Games, but we fell short of that after we lost 1-0 against Olympic team in National final," said Natoka.

"What I can say is that Tartar have trained well and are ready to record a double this year," he said.

Natoka prides that his team has some of the best players around among them talismanic striker Teresa Engesha who was the top scorer during 2013 East African Games in Lira, Uganda.

"My team is almost intact and the players are much developed than they were last year," he said.

"Nevertheless, we're not going to underrate any team because we know everybody is a champion on her own rights," he said.

"We expect tough contest at the regional games considering that National Championships ticket is on offer," he said.

Natoka named twin sisters Ruth Chebungei and Miriam Chelegat, Robai Kebebi and Scola Chemnug as some of the hardened players in the team.

Tartar have not conceded a goal up the county level and Natoka expects them to defend the record at Kakamega.

The team has scored a total of 32 goals against none and this speaks volumes about the quality of the team.

Tartar qualified for the regionals after beating Chepareria 4-0 in West Pokot County Games. They had beaten Holy Rosary 8-0 in their semi-final match to reach the final.

Despite the self-explanatory results, Natoka insisted that the county games were very tough and his team were forced to work hard to move on to next stage.

"Teams have improved very much and Tartar's qualification to the Nzoia region games was not an easy ride as the results portrays," he said.

"We won because we still have the best team," he told Game Yetu in a recent interview.

At the regional games, Tartar are pooled alongside Butere of Kakamega-Mumias, Kingadole of Busia and Kaimosi of Vihiga.

Other pool has Arch-Bishop Njenga who are Kakamega-Mumias second team, Chepukaka of Bungoma, Wiyeeta of Trans Nzoia and a team from Turkana.

Natoka predicted that Tartar and Butere will qualify for the semis in their pool.

"The preliminaries round would not be very tricky for Tartar but we expect tough challenge from semis," he said.

Tartar is the first ever football girls' team from the pastoralist land of West Pokot to win a National trophy.

Girls from the region face a lot of challenges like Female Genital Mutilation and early marriages.

The achievement of Tartar in sports is viewed in a wider spectrum, as a new dawn in the lifestyle of girl child in the region.