Lock Nick Ongeri has joined Strathmore Leos for the upcoming 2022/23 Kenya Cup season which starts in November.
Speaking on Wednesday, Strathmore Leos head coach Louis Kisia said Ongeri's arrival will bring experience and a championship-winning mentality to the side, having bagged the Kenya Cup three times with KCB.
"He does bring loads of experience from playing at KCB and Mwamba. Winning titles with the bankers will rub off on our younger players as we attempt to get to the Kenya Cup final," said Kisia
For the past two seasons, the Madaraka-based side have reached the Kenya Cup semi-finals, losing 29-9 and 39-19 to Kabras and Kisia believes they need to work on strength and conditioning.
"Our two matches against Kabras were competitive for about 40 -50 minutes. But in the final quarter, we seemed to struggle. In our pre-season this year, we will be addressing that weakness," noted Kisia.
The tactician said the target for the upcoming season will be to make it to the Kenya Cup final.
"We have come close for the past two seasons. Our goal now is to get to the final. It won't be easy but with the spirit and efforts the boys have had, we can make it," added Kisia
The club have entered their second week of pre-season and Kisia believes there is adequate time to be ready for the start of the league campaign.
The former Mwamba coach expects the league to be a four horse race with champions Kabras, last season's runners-up Menengai Oilers and KCB joining the students in the battle for honours.
"If you look at the rest of the teams in the division, they are in transition and you don't expect them to be in contention. Some have new coaches while others are blooding in new players and that takes time for you to be a contender,” said Kisia.
The Leos hope to play some friendly matches to test their systems before the season starts.
"We hope to play at the Impala floodlit to gauge ourselves," revealed Kisia.
