St Anthony's face Ringa in football opener
What you need to know:
- The games will also have new title sponsors in Coca Cola who have taken over from Airtel who sponsored the previous editions of the ball games.
Former champions St Anthony's School Kitale hope deadly striker Titus Kapchanga will be at his best when they tackle Ringa Secondary from Nyanza in the opening boys' football under-19 Pool A match at Hill School in Eldoret as the Coca Cola-sponsored Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association Term Two Games get underway on Tuesday.
After missing out on the trophy for the last two years, St Anthony's coach Peter Mayoyo believes this is their time and has put the responsibility of ensuring this is done to his prolific goal-getter Kapchanga who has a record 45 goals to his credit since the Rift Valley championships started at the zonal level.
"We are playing at home and have had the best preparations ever with school head Victor Makanda who arrived here from Barding leading from the front," Mayoyo, who won several schools football titles with Mombasa High School before moving to the Rift Valley, said.
Other players St Anthony's will be relying on include midfielder Marshall Abdikadir Hamza and defence kingpin Ian Karani.
Other teams in the group are Kakamega High, who will take on Kathungi from Eastern in their first match.
Group B contains Olbolsat Secondary from Central, Dagoretti High from Nairobi, Shimba Hills from Coast and Tajbar from North Eastern. The games, that will be used to select Kenya's teams for the East Africa secondary school games to be staged in Rwanda in August, will feature football senior and junior categories, netball, volleyball, racquet games, and rugby sevens.
New winners are expected to emerge in most of the disciplines after defending champions were locked out at the regional level. The games have become very competitive with the introduction of the World Secondary School Games whose first edition will be held in Brazil later this year.
New champions are expected in football; boys under-19 and under-16, netball, volleyball boys after defending champions Upper Hill (under-19), Kakamega High (under-16), Obambo Mixed (netball), Cheptil (volleyball boys), were all beaten at the regional level.
The games will also have new title sponsors in Coca Cola who have taken over from Airtel who sponsored the previous editions of the ball games.
