As the Rift Valley Secondary School Sports begins today in Bomet County, teachers and coaches have been urged to use their own students rather than recruiting players from outside their schools.
This advice comes in response to increasing incidents of schools fielding ineligible players, especially in competitive matches like regionals and nationals, to win championships with the help of non-students.
Kapsimbiri Secondary School’s football team, which won the Bomet County championship this year, was disqualified after defeating Kaplong Boys Secondary School 3-0 in the county competitions held at Bomet IAAF Stadium last month.
During a training session for coaches and referees at Bomet University, held in preparation for the regional games across various stadiums in Bomet, officials from the Rift Valley Secondary School Sports Association emphasized that many schools might opt to field non-students in the competition, thereby denying their own students the chance to showcase their talents.
Representatives from 14 Rift Valley counties will be present, with various teams competing from today until Saturday to determine qualifiers for the regionals.
Secretary Koech Kirwa expressed concern that it is unfair for the government to allocate funds for sporting activities while teams give opportunities to non-student players at the expense of genuine learners.
Bomet County Director of Education Leonard Ngugi, TSC counterpart William Yator, and association vice-chairman Sammy Githungu were also in attendance.
Kirwa called on match officials to verify team documents to prevent forgeries and ensure fair play for genuine students aiming to showcase their abilities.
“The games teachers and coaches should be strict on the players by ensuring that genuine students are given a chance to fully showcase their talents. By doing this, it will help weed out rogue sports teachers who procure services of outsiders to join their school teams,” he remarked.
Kirwa disclosed that game officials and referees underwent training ahead of the four-day championship and emphasized the need for them to handle it impartially and professionally.
He continued: “We cannot tolerate poor officiating when the officials are well-trained and expected to perform their duties diligently and impartially.”
