Kisumu Day oozes confidence as Games begin in lakeside city

This year’s Kenya Secondary Schools Term 2 Games hosts Kisumu Day and Kisumu Boys will bank on their home advantage to go all the way in the soccer Under 19 title hunt as the jamboree gets underway Tuesday.

The team needed a successful petition against Barding Boys High School’s victory in the Nyanza regional games to make the cut for the nationals.

Odhiambo Booker, the Games master at Kisumu Day opines their participation in the national games is a reward for the team’s unrelenting hard work and vision.

The team has had a thorough preparation since the confirmation of their qualification by the Kisumu County Director of Education.

“The team has been training well. We usually have morning and afternoon training sessions, which I believe will bring the best out of my players.

“The morning session is normally held between 4 and 6am,” he told Citizen Digital.

In order to attain their dream, Booker’s charges will have to overcome other heavyweights such as Mbooni Boys, Ebwale and Dagoretti Boys to come out of Pool B.

Booker is cautious about their prospects and says the team must be at its best to top the pool.

“We can’t afford to underrate any team in our pool because they deserve to play at the nationals,”he said.

The team shared the spoils in almost all their games in the regional competitions, a disturbing scenario that Booker has however attributed to the unavailability of his key marksmen.

However, with many of them returning, he is spoilt for choice.

“I believe we are equal to the task, and the boys will play their best football at the nationals.I’m confident we will play in the final. Also, the fact that we will be playing at home gives us more confidence that we can do it,” he added.

Last year’s volleyball bronze medalists Mogonga Secondary School will hope to go one better in this year’s edition.

Head coach Nathan Kiptoo is confident that his charges will come full circle this year.

“I believe we have worked on areas we felt we were demanding and we are good to go,”he enthused.

Since conquering the regionals, the team’s training has been centered on correcting the errors noticed.

He feels the team is in good shape and will stage a sustainable title challenge.

“It’s normal that we will commit one or two mistakes, but I believe that is characteristic of any game.

“We aim to reach the finals and win it. We know it is going to be tough, but we will challenge anyone that comes our way,” he added.

Summary of Soccer Under 16 & 19 pooling.

Soccer U16 boys

Pool A: Goseta, Koyonzo, Serani, Begamahiu

Pool B: North Eastern, Dagorreti high, Agoro Sare, Machakos boys

Soccer U19 boys

Pool A: Shimba hills, Olobasat, Garissa, St Anthony boys

Pool B: Dagorreti High, Ebwali, Mbooni boys, Kisumu Day