SCHOOLS: St Anthony's Boys Kitale, Butere Girls crowned national football champions

St Anthony's Boys Kitale celebrate with the KSSSA National football title.[Washington Onyango,Standard]

St Anthony’s Boys Kitale and Butere Girls are the new Kenya Secondary School Sports Association (KSSSA) national football champions.

Rising star Aldrine Kibet scored a brace to inspire the Rift Valley Region heavyweights to a 2-0 win over Dagoretti High School as St Anthony’s reclaimed the title they last won in 2019.

The win saw the Trans Nzoia County-based side revenge their 1-0 defeat to Dagoretti during the preliminary matches on Thursday and head coach Peter Mayoyo believes they still have a lot to achieve.

Speaking after their win, Mayoyo said that their journey has just begun as they eye the East Africa title.

“Congratulations to the boys. This is a good day for not only the school but Rift Valley as a region. We are back where we belong and I want to thank the administration for their support.

“We celebrate today but training starts tomorrow. The job is not yet done for us because we have another big prize to bring home. East Africa, we are coming,” said Mayoyo.

Kenyan football legend Elijah Onsika at Bukhungu Stadium.[Washington Onyango,Standard]

Former Harambee Stars and Kisumu Posta player Elijah Onsika congratulated St Anthony’s for their win and said he has identified over 14 players who through Kisii University will be offered sports scholarships when they finish Form Four.

Onsika who is the sports officer and football coach at Kisii University said he thrives in seeing raw talent adapted, mentored, and nurtured.

“I have been scouting for talent in Kakamega for the past week. Kenya has talent and we as stakeholders have to identify these unique traits and help them move upward after school,” said Onsika.

St Anthony’s Kitale and Dagoretti will be joined in Rwanda next week by Shanderema Secondary School.

Shanderema redeemed their semifinals defeat by thrashing Nyanza’s Agoro Sare High School 5-1 in the third-place playoffs.

Butere Girls celebrates with the KSSSA National football title.[Benjamin Sakwa,Standard]

In football girls, Butere Girls we crowned new champions after dethroning defending champions Wiyeta Girls.

Faith Lorna scored the solitary goal as Butere hit Wiyeta 1-0 to reclaim the title they won nine years ago.

“This is amazing. The girls have been putting in a lot of work and today we have seen the fruits of hard work. To come from last year’s disappointments where we were knocked out at the county level to win the national crown this year is not a mere feat,” said Butere coach Howard Shikanga.

Madira Girls will join Butere and Wiyeta in East Africa after finishing third.