•The tournament coordinator Kenneth Mukok, St Anthony is one of the teams that have confirmed their participation in the annual tournament to be held at St Mary’s School, Yala in Siaya County.
•Participating teams will pay Sh2, 500 while each student taking part in racquet games will pay Sh400. Winners will receive trophies and certificates.
Image: ANGWENYI GICHANA
National Secondary Schools boys’ soccer champions St Anthony’s Kitale headlines the 11th edition of the Yala Invitational tournament set for this weekend.
The tournament coordinator Kenneth Mukok, said St Anthony is one of the teams that have confirmed their participation in the annual tournament to be held at St Mary’s School, Yala in Siaya County. The Solidarity Boys are expected to defend their title.
The tournament will feature rugby 7s, rugby 15s, basketball (5x5 and 3x3), hockey, soccer (under 19 and 16), volleyball, handball, and racquet games (both boys and girls).
Participating teams will pay Sh2, 500 while each student taking part in racquet games will pay Sh400. Winners will receive trophies and certificates.
St. Anthony’s will however, face stiff competition from former national champions Kakamega High School, multiple Nyanza champions Kisumu Day, former Western region champions Ebwali, St Peter’s Mumias, and Siaya County’s Ambira.
Stiff competition is expected in rugby 15’s and 7’s with national 7’s champions Koyonzo entering teams in both categories. In last year’s competition, Koyonzo won both titles.
Other rugby powerhouses that have confirmed participation are Maseno School, Kakamega High, Nyabondo, Vihiga High, Chavakali, St Peter’s Mumias, Kotolo, Friends School Kamusinga, and St Anthony’s Kitale. Two-time Nyanza region basketball champion Onjiko School has also confirmed participation. Onjiko will face stiff competition from last year’s winners Sigalame.
“So far, more than 30 schools and other institutions have confirmed participation and we expect more teams to confirm before Saturday. It will be a highly competitive tournament. We expect fireworks, especially, in soccer and rugby because national and regional powerhouses have confirmed participation,” said Mukok.
He said teams that participated in past tournaments went ahead to bag regional and national tournaments.
“Most teams want to gauge themselves against the best before the Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association games kick off later in April,” said Mukok who is also the St. Mary’s Yala rugby coach.
At the same time, the Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) Western region coaching and refereeing course will be held at St Peter’s Mumias on Friday and Saturday, according to regional director of education Teresa Songwa.
The training, which will cover athletics, swimming, badminton, lawn tennis, netball, football, rugby, handball, hockey, and basketball is being held in preparation for the 2024 co-curricular activities
The course is aimed at equipping coaches and referees with current coaching techniques and rule changes in the various games.
Participants will pay Sh2,500 for certification, facilitation, and training materials.