SCHOOLS: Black Saints ready to hunt as Barding face Ambira in Siaya games

St Mary’s School Yala commonly referred to as the Black Saints will begin their pursuit to win the football, rugby and table tennis titles as the Siaya County Secondary School games kick off on Thursday at Chianda High School in Rarieda.

All eyes will be on St Mary’s School Yala as they face off against Sirembe, Nyabera and Nyang’oma in Group B of the football boys as teams’ battle for the vacant Siaya County football boy’s throne.

This is after the defending champions Usenge High School were knocked out at the zonal level a month ago.

The Black Saints will face off against Sirembe in their opening Group B match from 12pm before playing Nyang’oma on Friday from 8am.

Yala will then finish their preliminaries against Nyabera from 11am on Friday as they eye a place in the knock out stages set to be played on Saturday together with the finals.

Yala are currently riding high on a nine-game unbeaten run after winning their zonal and Gem Yala sub county games.

In Group A, former East Africa champions Barding will renew their rivalry with Ambira High School on Thursday.

Barding have been pooled alongside Ambira, Majengo and Humend.

At the same time, Yala is focused on qualifying their six students to the regional finals in racket games.

Trevor Odhiambo, Actros Otieno, Jeremiah Branson, Moses Otieno, Najib Otieno and  Oliver Randolph will represent Yala in table tennis and Yala racket games coach Mark Mola believes they have the talent to brush aside their competitors.

“Our goal for now is to get to the regionals. The six boys are talented and we are going a step at a time. We know we can do it,” said Mola.

In football girls, Nyanza Region champions Lwak Girls headlines Group B where they will face off against Hawinga Girls from Alego-Usonga, Uranga and Jera.

Kandaria, Wagai, Nyasanada and Bondo will face off in Group A.

Meanwhile, Siaya County Secondary School Sports Association (SCSSSA) Chairman Ngala Mbuor has promised peace during the Term Two county games set to be played in Rarieda for the next three days.

Speaking to the Standard Sports, Mbuor who is the Principal of St Patrick’s Segere Mixed Secondary School said they have engaged qualified referees to oversee the normal high octane football matches that have been seen to create tension over the years.

School games have been known to attract huge number of fans who passionately support their teams but due to the uncontrollable magnitude of the number of people at the venues across Kenya, sometime trouble erupts and fans fight against each other due to alleged wrong referee calls.

In Siaya, Mbuor said they have engaged referees of Level 2 to oversee the games.

“We have very experienced referees amongst the officiating team and in fact a senior referee who officiates even the FKF Premier League and National Super League will be in charge of the officiating team.

“We want peace in Siaya because these games are for our young children whom we want to nurture and see them progress and develop into future Kenyan sportsmen and women,” said Ngala.

Level 2 referee have in-depth education of the general rules of the game and have the education required to referee games in your local area. Level 2 referees can officiate local league, schools, colleges and many more.

Additionally, Mbuor said SCSSSA will work closely with the available security agencies to provide security to fans, the referees, students and everyone who will be involved in the county games.