Parkroad Badgers, Nakuru Hockey Club and Kenya College of Accountancy University will be hoping for a quick return to the Kenya Hockey Union Premier League when they begin their Super League campaign on March 2.
The three are causalities of a KHU decision to add Super League into their calendar and slicing the top flight to a 10-team league, down from 12.
During a meeting held over the weekend at the City Park Stadium, the union settled on three teams which finished at the bottom of the league standings at the end of the season, which saw Butali Sugar Warriors reclaim the trophy from Kenya Police.
KHU secretary general Wycliffe Ongori said: “All the clubs which participated in the Premier League last season were aware of the union’s plans to drop the last three teams that will see only 10 teams feature in the top flight.”
He added: “All this is being done to see to it that we have competitiveness in our various leagues. Competitive leagues will produce strong national teams (men and women) which will in return bring good results at the international stage.”
As per the new set-up, the Premier League will have 10 teams while the Super League and National League will have 13 and 11 teams respectively.
At the same time, Sailor’s have returned to the Premier League, having emerged overall Super league winners.
In the ladies category, Kenyatta University and Lakers were promoted to the top tier while Vikings were demoted to the Super League.
In the second tier, Bungoma Farmers will compete in the Super League, up from the National League, while Kabarak University has been relegated to the National League, down from the Super League.