Kenya tops East African Secondary School Championships in Uganda

By Oscar Pilipili

Kenya tops EA games

Kenya underlined its prowess in youth sports in the region when it emerged overall winner at the recent East African Secondary School Championships in Lira, Uganda.

The success did not, however, come easily as Kenyan teams had to fight against various challenges including biased officiating and playing against suspected older opponents.

Kenya teams bagged a total of 24 medals - 12 gold, six silver and six bronze - to lead all the other countries in the final table standings.

This was almost 100 percent progress as the country had bagged 16 medals (seven gold, five silver and four bronze) in the previous event in Mbarara, Uganda last year. Rivals Uganda managed 24 medals - seven gold, 11 silver and eight bronze.

Kenyan teams also showed tremendous progress compared to the previous year. Moi Girls Kamusinga’s handball team won gold after they had finished fifth in 2012.

girls’ volleyball

Kwanthanze’s girls volleyball team also improved moving from fifth position last year to bag gold in Lira.

So did Upper Hill’s basketball team, placed fifth last season, but played well to claim gold on this occasion.

After finishing runners-up last year, Shimba Hills returned triumphantly to claim top honours in basketball girls. Tartar’s skill in girls’ football was evident as they won top honours after finishing third in Mbarara.

Sinyolo’s girls’ hockey team made a historic entry into the games winning the title on their debut outing.

In the boys category, Kamusinga finally shined after being hidden in the shadows of St Anthony’s for the last two years.

Great development was also witnessed in athletics where girls harvested six gold compared to last year’s feat of three. The boys team managed 12 gold compared to their previous performance where they got seven.

Eliud Wambua, technical officer in charge of athletics at the Ministry of Education Science and Technology, said focused training helped the track stars to do well in Lira.

“The Ministry barred selected athletes from entering in more than one event and this helped them train as a unit,” he said.

The implication of this performance is that Kenya will enter three teams in each of the disciplines it won in Lira.