Nairobi’s Upper Hill and Olympic lift football titles at the National Schools contests finals

Elated Upper Hill football players hold the trophy after dethroning Kathungu in the finals of Secondary Schools Championships in Embu,on saturday. [PHOTO: JONAH ONYANGO/ STANDARD]

By OSCAR PILIPILI

Upper Hill and Olympic of Metropolitan finally achieved their dream of ascending to the throne after they clinched football boys and girls titles at Airtel Rising Stars National Secondary School Championships at Kangaru on saturday.

Upper Hill defeated surprise package Kathungu of Northern region 1-0 in football boys’ final to achieve their first ever trophy at national level.

The goal that sunk Kathungi came in the final minutes of the match when Cavin Omondi scored from a goalmouth melee.

Olympic also recorded a narrow but valuable 1-0 victory over defending champions Tartar in football girls final that went down to the wire.

Prolific striker Zubeda Shanga scored the all-important goal in the second half of extra time when she lobbed over Tartar goalkeeper.

Vital victories

Upper Hill and Olympic victories mean a lot to the teams that have been fighting for long to reach the top.

Besides being crowned national champions, Upper Hill and Olympic qualify to represent Kenya at Airtel Rising Stars African Tournament to be staged in Lagos, Nigeria next month. 

The two teams will also feature at the East African Games as Kenyan champions when the games take place at Lira in Uganda on August 22 to September 2.

Upper Hill was the only talent academy that participated at the games after Kakamega, Garissa, Isiolo and Matuu Memorial failed to qualify for the nationals.

Upper Hill coach Peter Orero praised his team for clinching the trophy as he said: “It was important to win the trophy after we finished runners-up last season.

This shows our performance graph is own upward trend. Our focus is now on East Africa Games where we intend to finish at the top.”

Kathungi coach Ibrahim Naika expressed satisfaction over the silver medal feat by his team and promised to prepare well for East African Games.

First time

He said: “This is our first time to play at this level and I’m  happy. Our target is now to finish in podium position at the inter-countries Championships.”

Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association secretary general David Ngugi indicated that the games were perfect platform for the youth to showcase their talents.

“When we talk about nurturing raw talent the word that comes first is international exposure. I believe the tour of Uganda and Nigeria will offer our youth the best opportunity to gain new skills,” said Ngugi.

Ngugi said school games play a key role in talent development as most federations have no centres of excellence.

Director Quality Assurance and Standards in Ministry of Education Mohammed Mwinyipembe thanked Airtel for supporting talent development.

The closing ceremony was graced by Dr Belio Kipsang, Principal Secretary, Department of Education among other dignitaries.