Kenya on title defence mission as East Africa school games set to serve off

BROOKSIDE MATHLETE CONTEST Brookside Dairy Marketing Manager Peter Wasonga explains that the Brookside Mathlete contest was started 10 years ago to improve academic perfomance and to demistify the negative perception that mathematics is hard at the Annual Brookside Mathlete Contest at Stratmore School on Saturday, 10th October, 2015.PHOTO: ANGELA MAINA/ STANDARD

Kenyan teams to this year’s Brookside East Africa Secondary school games will be on a mission to retain the regional crown in the annual contest that begins next week in Eldoret.

The local boys and girls have been urged to make it better by winning the elusive football titles as well as reclaim the volleyball and basketball gongs.

Kenya will be fielding a total of 811 participants from around the country who excelled in Term One, Two A and B events, who will be up against six other nations in a quest for regional glory. Neighbours Uganda pose a major threat, having snatched the crown in Dar es Salaam in 2014 with Kenya recapturing it last year in Huye, Rwanda.

Uganda will be fielding 730 contestants, Tanzania 204, Rwanda 202 and Burundi 108. Making a return to the games after missing out last year, South Sudan will have 70 athletes and Zanzibar 40. Kenya will be defending rugby 15s, Tennis (girls), athletics (boys) and both the boys and girls hockey and badminton titles.

They will be seeking to salvage volleyball and basketball crowns that they lost last year. Others are rugby 7s, handball, table tennis and netball. Boys’ football representatives Laiser Hill, Barding, Passenga and Friends School Bukembe shoulder the country’s hopes of winning a second regional crown having fallen short of the coveted trophy with St Anthony’s Kitale being the only Kenyan school to have won in 2002.

Brookside Dairy Marketing Manager Peter Wasonga challenged the girls in basketball and hockey to also excel academically so as to enhance their chances of securing scholarships.

“I urge the girls to up their game in class because last year no girl met our A- requirement to qualify for our scholarships at Strathmore University,” Wasonga said. He revealed that Brookside will sponsor this year’s event to the tune of Sh30m that will go towards kitting all teams and refurbishing the sports facilities.

Speaking on behalf of Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i during the official flag off of the teams Principal Secretary Vocational and Technical Training in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology Dinah Mwinzi said that the country has great expectations in all participants. “To all the teams I wish to inform you that the country has great expectations in you. I hope that you will work hard to retain our position one and clinch more gold medals in your respective disciplines,” Mwinzi said.

Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association chairman Kimutai Ng’etich lauded the ministry and event sponsors Brookside Dairy for their commitment to nurture talent.

Kimutai urged the team to remain focused and retain the overall trophy. “Keep your eyes fixed on the prize and this time let us do it by winning titles, we have dominated these games for long but we need the football, volleyball and basketball titles.”