Rift Valley Region emerged overall champions of the Brookside Kenya Secondary School Sports Association (KSSSA) Term One National Games which ended at Hill School, Eldoret, at the weekend.
The hosts finished with 88 points, 22 points ahead of Nairobi Region, who finished in second place, as Western Region (65 points) and Nyanza Region tied for third spot, Central and Eastern Regions also finished joint fifth with 59 points. Coast and North Eastern followed in 58 and 15 points respectively at the end of five-day competition.
Winners Rift Valley won the boys’ basketball title courtesy of Laiser Hill Academy, girls’ handball (St Joseph’s Girls Secondary School, Kitale), athletics (boys and girls) and cross country (boys and girls). Nairobi was victorious in boys’ handball (Hospital Hill High School) and boys’ swimming competitions.
Western Region dominated girls’ basketball (Butere Girls Secondary School), rugby 15s (Butula Boys High School) and boys’ hockey (Musingu Boys High School).
Nyanza Region shone in girls’ hockey with Nyamira Girls High School winning gold, while Coast Region maintained their dominance in the girls’ swimming.
It was the first time in three years that the games resumed fully after their suspension in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Only Hospital Hill managed to retain their crown underlining the level of competition.
Dr Aggrey High School, Kaya Tiwi High School, Moi Girls Secondary School, Kamusinga and St Anthony’s Boys High School, Kitale were all dethroned. The return of Brookside Dairy as sponsors was also a boost as the milk processor splashed Sh14.5 million for the competition with teams kitted.
“We are glad to return to the games after the disruption by the Covid pandemic. As sole sponsors, we have put in Sh14.5 million this year to kit all the players at the games,” Wilson Okong’o, Brookside’s Corporate Communications manager said on the sidelines of the event in Eldoret.
“We shall continue to support initiatives that enable our youth to discover and nurture their sporting talent,” Okong’o added. As part of the deal, all teams will be kitted by the company.
Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) Secretary General David Ngugi lauded Brookside for their continued sponsorship.
“The country’s top sporting players were discovered at these games and we thank the sponsors for continuing to stand with us as we nurture future talents,” Ngugi said.
On a sour note, cheating reared its ugly ahead once again as West Pokot County’s St Albert Kamito Boys Secondary School were banned for two years for fielding two ineligible players.
Attention now turns to the Term Two Games featuring football, volleyball, 3×3 basketball, rugby sevens, netball and racquet games.
The Term Two Nationals will be held in Kakamega in early August, before the top three sides in all disciplines held in the two terms head to Huye, Rwanda for the East Africa Secondary Schools Games later that month.
