School Games: Koyonzo eye rugby 7s success in Western

Koyonzo High School will be seeking to make their mark in rugby sevens at the Western Region Secondary Schools Term Two Games which kick off Thursday at St Peter’s Mumias Boys High School in Kakamega County.

The school is eyeing a slot in the nationals, which will be held in Nakuru from September 8 to 13.

Koyonzo coach Eliud Okwemba said the boys are in high spirits and prepared for the battle ahead.

“We are not undermining any team but our target is to play well and proceed to the nationals after missing the last two events when Kakamega High School managed to beat us at the regional level. This year we managed to beat them, but we also have to be careful with the other teams,” said Okwemba.

The school captain Brian Kiptoo believes that discipline and hard work has propelled them this far and will be key in them proceeding even to the East Africa Games in Arusha, Tanzania.

Kiptoo also revealed that motivation from the school administration has enabled them to succeed.

“We have been training hard ince suspension of the games was lifted by the Ministry of Sports and that helped us beat our competitors. We shall do our best in the regionals which will be competitive, but we trust our training program,” said Kiptoo.

The school principal, Boaz Obonyo Adit said that the boys are determined to achieve their target of qualifying for the Arusha showpiece.

“The boys are motivated by the fact that some of the former students have joined clubs like Kabras, Kenya Harlequins and they have been training hard to lift our school. We are happy that they did well at the counties, but our target is to see them win all the way to the East Africa Games,” Adit told Nation Sport.

With two schools proceeding to the nationals in the discipline, Chavakali will need to be at their best to see off defending champions and hosts St Peter's, Chavakali High School, Friends School Kamusinga High School, Kolanya High School among others.

In boys' volleyball, Namwela Secondary School, Mbale High School, Indangalasia Secondary School and Sigalame Boys High School are in pool "A" ,while Khasoko High School, Vihiga High School, champions Malava High School and Butula High School are in pool "B".

In girls' hockey, Tigoi Girls High School will face with Eregi Girls High School in the first match in the preliminaries, while champions Misikhu Girls High School battle Nasewa High School in another contest.

Other games on show during the three-day event are football, handball, netball, basketball, swimming, racquet games and the newly-introduced 3x3 basketball.