Eastern Region Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) term two games commenced Thursday in Embu bringing together 1,880 students from eight counties in the region.
The three-day showpiece being held in various venues including Kangaru School, Kangaru Girls School, Embu University and Embu Talent Academy comprise 11 disciplines including, soccer, handball, basketball, hockey, rugby, netball and racket games.
The games have resumed after a two-year suspension occasioned by the outbreak of Covid-19 in March 2020.
Some of the notable teams participating in the tourney are the Federation of East Africa Secondary Schools Sports Association girls’ volleyball defending champions Kwathanze Secondary School from Machakos County and boys’ handball national defending champions Mbooni Boys from Makueni County.
In the preliminary games played Thursday, Makueni Girls beat Kerwa Mixed Secondary School from Embu 1:0 in hockey to earn three points and go on top of the group that also includes Chogoria Girls from Meru and Thitani Girls from Kitui.
The team coach, Albanus Kituu said he was impressed by their performance given that it was the first time to participate in the regional games and exuded confidence of bettering their performance in the remaining two group matches.
Preliminary matches are expected to continue tomorrow with playoffs and finals being staged on Saturday according to Regional KSSSA Secretary Elijah Kiarie.
He said winners in the finals would proceed to the nationals expected to take place in Nakuru from September 8 to 12 followed by the East African Championships.
The secretary said the biggest challenge they were currently facing was funding given that some schools were not able to facilitate their student to participate.
He asked the government to streamline funding to enable many schools participate and nurture upcoming talents.
By Samuel Waititu
