Itigo Girls’ High School have vowed to topple national secondary school champions Wiyeta High School at this weekend’s Safaricom Chapa Dimba Rift Valley championships at Nakuru ASK Showground.
The Nandi county school, who finished third at the Rift Valley secondary school games have intensified their training as coach Emmanuel Kogo expressed their preparedness for the regional finals.
“We are going to meet with a Wiyeta team that has been beating us all along but we are going to try our best and topple them this time round," said Kogo.
"We have solved the problems we had in our previous match, where we were plagued by injuries. Wiyeta are feared like a virus but we are training and building confidence in our strikers."
"Their (strikers') mentality and confidence is growing after featuring in a series of friendly matches and tournaments, where they have been scoring at will,” added Kogo.
Multiple national champions Itigo have found the going tough lately, missing out on the national championships for two years running after facing hurdles in teams like Nasokol, Nakuru, Wiyeta, and Moi Girls.
“To put us back on track, we are planning to recruit many players top players to ensure that we are still a good team even when we have injuries," said Kogo.
To reach this weekend's finals, Itigo beat Namgoi 8-0 in the semis and Kapsabet Starlets 6-0 at the county final. At the Upper Rift region tournament, Itigo beat Mwiruti 4-0 and Kapkenda 3-0.
Kogo will bank his hopes on skipper Marion Wafula, Velma Kavesa, Sharon Moraa, Alice Kemunto and Linet Kimuli to deliver upfront.
Wafula said: “The rest of the school are on holiday but we are still here for training. At the school games, we lacked pressing power and could, therefore, could not recover after conceding."
"We are training on pressing and fitness. We used to fear Wiyeta but owing to our training, we are able to face them head-on. We are going to prove to them that we are able,” said the 17-year-old Form Three student.
Other teams set for this weekend's tournament are Laiser Hill Academy from Kajiado, Mwenge FC and Trinity Mission Girls from Nakuru, Ol Melil Girls from Narok, Ndura Sports from Trans Nzoia, and PASC Langa FC from Uasin Gishu County.
