Hockey giants St Anthony's set sights on reclaiming East Africa title

St Anthony’s Boys Kitale hockey forward Peter Wachira. [Washington Onyango, Standard]

For decades, the ground at St Anthony’s Boys Senior School Kitale has been an incubator for hockey legends.

However, echoes of missing trophies have haunted the corridors of East Africa’s most successful schools’ boys hockey empire for years. Having endured three years of defeat at the national finals, St Anthony’s, christened Les Titans, finally broke their shackles in Kisumu this year to recapture the title they had last won in 2022.

In Kakamega last year, St Anthony’s came close but fell short after finishing second behind Uganda’s Kakungulu Memorial in the round-robin contest.

Now with just four days to the start of the 2026 regional games in Morogoro, Tanzania, the ultimate prize looms large in the horizon: the East Africa throne they last conquered in 2018.

As the most successful boys’ hockey team in the history of the Federation of East Africa Schools Sports Association (FEASSA) games, St Anthony’s boasts unrivaled pedigree.

With a cabinet trophy rich with six East Africa gongs, they have set the gold standard for schools’ hockey despite the agonizing five years that the title has eluded them.

Yet, past glory offers little comfort to a squad fueled by ambition to follow in the footsteps of their predecessors.

The pain of surrendering their dominance since 2019 has morphed into an obsessive drive with a single unyielding objective to cross borders, outplay their peers and return to the top where they believe they rightfully belong. The driving force behind this rebirth is coach Kelvin Lugalia, whose tactical acumen as steered Les Titans to greater heights.

Revered for nurturing the country’s top hockey players, Lugalia’s coaching blueprint relies heavily on discipline, composure, high intensity transitions and an unshakable winning culture cultivated over the years.

His philosophy found its ultimate expression when he guided the national boys’ Under-18 hockey 5s team to African glory hence qualifying for the World Cup.

Les Titans go to Tanzania with confidence knowing that they are in safe hands thanks to Lugalia’s ability to translate domestic dominance into international success days to the regional battle. Kenya beating continental hockey giants South Africa twice in one championship was no mean feat. Lugalia’s charges rallied from behind to beat the South Africans 6-5 to lift the continental trophy.

Going into the regional games, Lugalia said their aim is to improve on last year’s performance and reclaim the East African trophy.

“We have been working very hard, the boys have been committed to this course and I’m confident they have what it takes to excel,” Lugalia said.

“We know that it will require hard work but I believe it can be done because most of the work has been done during preparations and all that remains is execution.”

Shouldering this immense responsibility on the turf is inspirational captain Kelvin Onyango whose leadership has been nothing short of transformative.

Fresh from orchestrating Kenya’s continental run and firing the nation to global qualification with 12 goals, Onyango will bring an aura of invincibility and tactical maturity to the schools’ setup.

Kerry Lusweti and Peter Wachira will also bring their newly acquired international experience to Morogoro.

St Anthony’s will launch their quest in Group B against perennial rivals Ntare School and Mbarara High School from Uganda and homeboys Benjamin Mkapa Secondary School.

National silver medallists and former national and East Africa champions Friends School Kamusinga will announce their return to the East Africa stage after a three-year absence in Group A.

They will be up against defending champions Kakungulu Memorial, Namilyango College also from Uganda and Tanzania’s Arusha Meru.