A day after St Antony Boys Kitale were crowned the 2023 Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) national football champions, Cabinet Secretary for Health Susan Nakhumicha has lauded the Solidarity Boys for their spirited effort that earned them the top accolade in Kakamega County on Saturday.
Nakhumicha, a sporting fan herself said the excellent display by Peter Mayoyo coached side was a testament of growth of football not only in Tranz Nzoia county but the whole country courtesy of Bottom-Up Transformation Agenda [BETA) being spearheaded by President William Ruto.
CS Susan Nakhumicha (extreme right) flanked by her Tourism counterpart Peninah Malonza (middle),Nairobi County Woman Representative Esther Passaris alongside the new WBF Women’s World Super Lightweight Champion Sarah Achieng and UWC Edith Soledad Mattyhsse in June this year
The 2-0 win saw the Trans Nzoia County-based side revenge their 1-0 defeat to Dagoretti during the preliminary matches on Thursday and head coach Mayoyo believes they still have a lot to achieve ahead of East Africa school games in Rwanda.
“Congratulations St Anthony’s Boys High School Kitale (The Solidarity Boys) for being crowned the National Football Champions at the Kenya Secondary School Games. Your 2-0 victory over Dagoreti High in the finals was a hard fought battle. I am proud of you. Kitale is proud of you. Kenya applauds you,” she wrote.
Tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP) and the influential midfielder cum the fan favourite Aldrine Kibet scored the brace for the 2018 East Africa secondary school football champions ending hopes of Dagoretti sealing the much-anticipated glory.
“Congratulations to the boys. This is a good day for not only the school but Rift Valley as a region. We are back where we belong and I want to thank the administration for their support.We celebrate today but training starts tomorrow. The job is not yet done for us because we have another big prize to bring home. East Africa, we are coming,” remarked Mayoyo.
Trans Nzoia County produced other winning team in Kesogon girls’ volleyball who dethroned African volleyball champions Kwanthanze Secondary School after winning 3-1 sets to clinch their maiden national title and put the brakes on the East Africa champions’.
Area Governor George Natembeya noted that his administration remains dedicated to fostering sports through allocation of funds to support county sports and the Construction of the state-of-the-art Kenyatta Stadium in Kitale.
“A special shout-out to St. Anthony’s Boys and Kesogon Girls for clinching the championship at the Secondary School Games.Congratulations to Wiyeta Girls too for their impressive performance, securing a spot in the East Africa games as the second runner-up.The 20,000-seat FIFA-standard stadium promises our athletes a modern and top-notch facility, ” he noted
Focus for the top three teams in every discipline will now shift to the Federation of East Africa Secondary Schools Sports Associations (FEASSSA) games which will take place in Huye City, Rwanda, from 15th to 30th August, 2023.
In an effort to boost the level of sports in the country, the government through the Ministry of Sports in partnership with Kenya Academy of Sports has announced plans to increase the number of teams participating in East African secondary school games to three from the initial two teams
“The government through the sports fund will partner with Kenya Sports Academy in funding all national sports games to ensure we tap and nurture more talents. This will give rooms for schools to produce more heroes to emulate sports legends like Eliud Kipchoge, Macdonald
Mariga, Victor Wanyama, Faith Kipyegon among others,” said State Department for Basic Education Principal Secretary Dr Belio Kipsang
