School Games: St. Anthony Kitale the team to beat, says Mayoyo

John Kyandaat St. Anthony Kitale

St. Antony Kitale head coach Peter Mayoyo is confident his team will defend the national secondary school soccer title when the games resume next term.

St. Antony clinched the 2019 National School Games football Under-19 champions after defeating Dagoretti High School 5-4 on post-match penalties and with last year’s games not taking place because of the Corona Virus Mayoyo is optimistic they will come back stronger and well prepared to conquer the region.

“We have never stopped training even when the students are away from school. We normally give them training programs to keep them fit. We also get in touch with the coaches for the team that they play for while at home to know how they are fairing.

When the form fours returned after schools reopened we urged the parents to release the rest of the players so that we can catch up and continue training,” he said. “If someone tells us the competitions will start tomorrow we are very ready to start the defence of our title,” explained Mayoyo.

Despite the Games being halted because of Covid 19, the veteran tactician says he loves the experience his team is gaining especially with their participation in the county league.

“With many years of experience at the top levels of school games I can tell you for free we’re still the team to beat. We will take every match with the seriousness it deserves. We won’t panic, our aim is to conquer the region,” added Mayoyo.

Football Kenya Federation last month signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the school to elevate the institution to be an FKF center of excellence and Mayoyo says it’s all down to hard work and discipline.

“FKF has tried and tested us to the fullest since 2016, they know whenever they call up players for the under 16 national team, you will never miss four to five players from our team. They realised our structure and the way we follow rules and regulations regarding school games and football; it’s something that pleased them so much,” the veteran tactician told Citizen Digital.