Kakamega Schools 'Green Commandos' celebrate after beating St Marys Yala's The Black Saints in football final at the KSSSA Term 2 Games at Mpesa Academy on Thursday. [Jonah Onyango,Standard]
As the dust settles on the grounds of the Mpesa Foundation Academy in Thika, the echoes of a totally altered schools’ sports ecosystem are still reverberating.
As champions celebrate their conquests and losers leak their wounds, 2026 will go down in history as the year dynasties crumbled, long-suffering giants clawed their way back to immortality and the entire hierarchy of Kenyan schools’ sports was brutally rewritten.
From the dethronement of Vihiga Boys (rugby 15s), St Luke’s Kimilili (handball boys), Musingu and Tigoi Girls (hockey) and 2025 boys’ basketball champions Laiser Hill and during the Term One games, their collapse had set a terrifying trend for defending champions. Across almost every discipline, the 2026 landscape underwent a significant shift.
In volleyball, rugby 7s, football and netball, teams that had lifted the 2025 national trophies found themselves on the sidelines having failed to survive their fiercely competitive county and regional battles. During the Term Two championships, 2025 national and East Africa champions St Peter’s Mumias (rugby 7s) and Cheptil (volleyball boys), national football champions St Joseph’s Boys Senior School Kitale and Butere Girls Senior School as well of 2025 netball holders Oyugi Ogango were not spared.
Amidst the ruthless Term Two games purge, only Kinale Girls stood firm against the tide of change. They were the only champions standing from last year’s national games as they successfully defended their rugby 7s gong. They fought gallantly showing immense grit, tactical discipline and nerves of steel to outmuscle their opponents and firm grip on their trophy. Kinale’s Margret Gathoni took home the most valuable player (MVP) for her outstanding performance.
The highlight of this year’s Term Two games was the redemption of Kakamega School’s iconic Green Commandos. For years, the mention of Green Commandos had only evoked memories of past glory rather than present-day dominance.
They reverberated a cry of a fallen empire yearning to rise again and regain control. Plagued by heartbreak, administrative transitions and an agonising five-year national title drought, Kenya’s most successful schools football powerhouse was slowly fading into oblivion.