Barding Boys High School in Siaya County did Kenya proud by ending the country’s 14-year jinx that has kept us at the periphery of the East Africa Secondary Schools football title when they beat10-man St Mary’s Kitende of Uganda 1-0 in the finals played at the Kipchoge Stadium in Eldoret.
The school, which derives its name from the dusty Barding village, was established in 1974 by a couple - Beech and Carol - who were Catholic missionaries behind St Joseph’s Catholic Church in the area in the early 1950s.
It was more of a harambee school, which was established as an intermediate to admit pupils from Barding Primary School with the Kenyan government taking over management from the missionaries in 1974. Today, Barding is a six-stream school, with 1, 242 strong student population.
The quest to win the 2016 East African soccer title started with Victor Makanda, the school’s principal after he was transferred there in 2011 from Obambo Mixed Secondary School in Siaya, where he had left a legacy in the form of the girls’ netball team, who became the national and regional giants.
Makanda diverted resources and energy to Barding’s soccer team.
“We scout for talented students right from primary,” says Makanda.
“We don’t poach students as some people are saying. However, if a student asks for admission from another school, our doors are always open. And if it turns out he is gifted, then that is a bonus,” adds Makanda.
Rice and beef, many a boy’s favourite, are served twice a week - Satos and Mondays for supper.
The boys blowing vuvuzelas are ferried to external games in ‘Lupembe,’ the school bus. But it’s not all about sports as Barding Boys posted a mean score of 10.8, the equivalent of A minus, in last year’s national exams.
Notable alumni who hanged out at a rocky patch christened ‘Golgotha’ include Paul Omondi, the Principal Immigration Officer at the Department of Immigration and aspirant for Alego-Usonga parliamentary seat in 2017, lawyer Dismas Odhiambo Wakla and Paul Nyandiwa, a senior accountant in Parliament.
