The dust has settled on the Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSA) national school games with a number of teams impressing their performances that earned them titles and a chance to represent the country in the upcoming East Africa School Games in Arusha, Tanzania.Here are some 5 things learned from national school games held in the past weekend.Quality dropAfter a two-year hiatus occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic, the quality of school games was expected to drop as the students were inactive from competitive games for a long time.KSSSA Games: Wiyeta edge Dagoretti Mixed to claim 10th national football girls titleThe 2022 elections did not also aid the preparations for the national school games as students were forced to break leaving coaches with limited time to groom their players.Coaches from various disciplines admitted that there was a drop in quality in the games which was there to be seen by everyone who has witnessed the exceptional quality of yesteryears. Emuria laments over the lost KSSSA calendarDespite a drop in quality, there were still players who stood out most notably Ebwali’s forward Calvin Otieno, Kisumu Day’s Verone Okeyo, and Highway Secondary School’s Lennox Kimani.Limited InvestmentLimited sponsors in the tournament meant that teams were not handed jerseys as is the norm for schools that booked a place in the KSSSA national school games.Bute Secondary School from North Eastern kicked off their campaign without proper kitting but the caught the eye of many well-wishers on social media and at the end of the tournament finished with two complete sets of jerseys.Bute Secondary School from Wajir shows up at the National Secondary Schools ball games in Nakuru without a proper kit.If you are from Wajir or an alumni of this school and you feel philanthropic enough this is your chance to rescue the situation.📸 Dennis Bogomba pic.twitter.com/GSY8YVe6qI— Jeff Kinyanjui (@_JeffKinyanjui) September 9, 2022 With a number of new entrants in the national school games after the traditional school games powerhouses were knocked out at the regional hurdle, some teams were forced to wear dilapidated kits.The torrential downpour in almost every afternoon of the school games affected the quality of some games moreso rugby and football where players lacked proper boots for wet surfaces.UpsetsA constant feature of the 2022 KSSSA national school games were the huge upsets staged in various disciplines with a number of schools claiming their maiden titles and some doing it on their first attempt.In rugby, Koyonzo Secondary School claimed their maiden title after qualifying for the national games for the first time ever as they went all through the tournament without suffering defeat.##NAJAVA_MECA_6643447##Ebwali also bagged their first football boys national title after beating Highway Secondary School 1-0 in the final after coming close in the last edition where they finished third.St Mary’s Tachasis also left a mark in the national school games after winning the girls hockey title after making their debut in the tournament in the 2022 edition.Hotbed of talent All disciples were littered with talent with the schools in the nationals being the best from all regions of the country and as in previous editions, coaches used the games to scout for the next top talents.In football former Posta Rangers head coach Stanley Okumbi, former Nakumatt FC head coach Anthony Mwangi, Tusker FC assistant coach Charles Okere, and Tusker Youth coach Peter Kairuki were present to scout football talents in the games.KSSSA Games: Ebwali pip Highway to win maiden boys football titleIn rugby, Kenya Simbas head coach Paul Odera and Kenya Harlequins head coach Paul Murunga graced the rugby 7s games to look for talents to beef up their squads.Limited time at the gamesThe games had a compacted schedule with some regions finishing their regionals the weekend before the national school games.In Day 1, football teams played two games in one day with some teams like Bute from North Eastern and Serani from Coast traveling long distances to honour the games just days before the tournament kick off.KSSSA Games 2022: The old, the new and everything in betweenThe third place kick-off of football was played just a few hours after teams lost their semi-finals which watered down the quality of the games.
