Road to Morogoro: Will last year's champions bear the weight of the crown?

When chalk, books, pens, and classrooms are swapped for balls, racquets, sticks, nets, and playing fields, it marks the beginning of the hunt for sporting greatness.

Every year, thousands of learners across the country launch their sports careers at the school games, which have for decades served as the country’s talent incubator.

This year, many will be hoping that their journey will end when they are crowned at the Federation of East African Secondary School Sports Association (FEASSA) games set for August in Morogoro, Tanzania.

For the defending champions, the road ahead is long and grueling, for a slight mishap could mark the end of their reign.

History has proven that their predecessors could not bear the weight of the crown, hence the fall from glory.

While some have recovered, a majority, such as former national and East Africa champions Friends School Kamusinga, Kakamega High School, Sinyolo Girls High School, Kerugoya Girls High School, and Shimba Hills, just to mention a few, have remained in the cold for years.

Term One games, which began last weekend in some parts of the country at the zonal level, marked the beginning of the 2026 calendar.

The Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA), with the blessings of the Ministry of Education, expanded the games, adding more disciplines for diversity, making yet another milestone, and helping in the implementation of the Competency-Based Education (CBE).

Beach volleyball, cricket, baseball, lacrosse, and beach football, which were on exhibition last year, will fully feature at both the locally and the FEASSA games.

Cross country will also be part of the East African Games this year. KSSSA secretary general David Ngugi said that the disciplines had been approved.

“We have expanded the games by adding more disciplines. However, we are yet to decide if they be played in Term One or Term Two games. The decision will be made in our next executive meeting,” Ngugi said.

Term One will feature its traditional sports: rugby15s, basketball, hockey, handball, swimming, athletics, cross country, as well as heptathlon and decathlon, which will be reintroduced.

The multi-discipline track and field events return to the calendar for the first time after the COVID-19 pandemic halted the games in 2020.

On resumption in 2022, the two events and rugby 15s were not included, with only rugby 7s featuring that year.

Rugby 15s returned in 2023, while decathlon (100m, long jump, high jump, shot put, 400m, 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1500m) for boys and heptathlon (100m hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200m, long jump, javelin and 800m) for girls remained shelved.

Rugby 15s champions Vihiga Friends High School, boys’ and girls’ hockey champions Musingu High School, and Tigoi Girls will be keen to survive the purge in the highly competitive Western Region.

St Joseph’s Girls High School, Kitale, and St Anthony’s Boys High School, who have been unsuccessful at the nationals, will be hoping to finally get it right and dethrone Tigoi and Musingu, but they must first overcome the lower-level hurdle.

St Joseph’s defended the East Africa trophy, while St Anthony’s settled for silver behind Uganda’s Kakungulu Memorial. Ng’iya Girls, who won bronze at both national and East African games, will be out for an upgrade.  

Handball giants St Luke’s Kimilili and Moi Girls Kamusinga, who enjoyed a successful 2025, retaining their national crowns and recapturing the East Africa gongs, will be hoping to exert their dominance.

Kamusinga coach Godfrey Simiyu said they are looking forward to a competitive season.

“It is a more demanding year for us because we have titles to defend from the lowest to the highest level of the competition. We don’t expect to have it easy because once you become a champion, then every team prepares, intending to dethrone you.”

Basketball holders Laiser Hill and Butere Girls High School will also be looking to extend their reign.

Butere, who dethroned Kaya Tiwi in 2023, will be keen to successfully defend their titles at all levels and crown it with a fourth national gong in April, even as they chase their maiden East Africa gong later in the year.

Laiser Hill, on the other hand, will be hoping to make it two titles in a row. No side has been able to successfully defend the boys' title since the games resumed after the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, with Dr Aggrey winning in 2022 and 2024, while Laiser bagged the 2023 and 2025 trophies.

Dagorretti High, regulars at the national games since 2018, are yet to taste glory.

Nothing less than churning talent is expected of athletics powerhouse Rift Valley, which has continuously dominated the field and track events with little competition from other regions.

While Term One games usually run smoothly with little or no controversy, the Term Two games ignite fierce rivalries and pull exciting crowds that are rarely witnessed in the local football Premier League.

Only the “Mashemeji derby” pitting rivals Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards comes close.

This year will be no different as old foes clash in the hunt for bragging rights while their diehard fans battle it out on the sidelines or social media platforms.  

With last year’s games having been marred by endless appeals, focus will be on Kakamega, Kisumu, and Trans Nzoia counties.

National champions St Joseph’s High School Kitale will be seeking to break the hearts of former national and East Africa winners St Anthony’s Boys High School for a third year in a row.

However, only time will tell if the two sides that meet at the Trans Nzoia County games will play without the match ending prematurely, only to be decided in the boardroom.

St Anthony’s will be hoping to secure their return to the national games after missing the 2024 and 2025 championships.

St Joseph’s, on the other hand, will be hoping to break the boys’ national champions curse that has seen a new champion crowned every year, with Kamukunji Secondary School having been the last side to successfully defend the title in 2002.

In volleyball, Cheptil High School and Kwanthanze Secondary School are the reigning champions at both the national and East African levels.

St Peter’s Mumias Boys High School will be keen to defend their national and East Africa rugby 7s titles.

Term Two games will also feature netball, tennis, badminton, basketball 3X3, and table tennis.

With the FEASSA games now all inclusive, stiff competition is expected at the Primary School level and Special Needs Education (SNE).

Primary school learners will compete in more sports following the addition of handball, tennis, badminton, table tennis, scrabble, and chess. They previously had four sports, namely football, volleyball, athletics, and netball.