Nyakach Girls' Joan Agola and Beryl Okumu of St Josephs Girls Kitale battle for ball control at the Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association Term 2 National Games at Mpesa Foundation Academy . [Jonah Onyango, Standard]
As the clock steadily ticks towards the start of the 2026 Federation of East Africa Schools Sports Association (FEASSA) games that begin on Friday in Morogoro, Kenyan teams are gearing up for battle against their neighbours.
Their mission in Eastern Tanzania is crystal clear, but the road ahead is long and fiercely treacherous, for Kenya will arrive in Tanzania with an unyielding mandate to successfully defend the overall regional gong. Kenya wrestled the coveted trophy from arch-rivals Uganda last year when the country hosted the games in Kakamega.
However, with no home advantage, a climate they are not used to and a wounded Uganda gearing up for battle, the Kenyan students face an acid test as they look to prove that last year’s victory was not a fluke.
Adding to the intense tension is the fact that Kenya is on this mission without the country’s most decorated heavyweights who were eliminated at the lower levels of competition.
The absence of the powerhouses leaves the new guards to shoulder the heavy burden of fighting tooth and nail to salvage national pride and keep Kenya ruling the region. While every dynasty faces transition, the landscape of Kenyan school sports heading into Morogoro looks radically unscripted. In a year that will go down in history as one that the gods of school sports rejected renown giants, traditional powerhouses will conspicuously be absent on the biggest stage.
In volleyball, the towering shadows of East Africa’s most successful girls’ school Kwanthanze and boys’ champions Cheptil will be missing. Similarly, handball courts will lack the indomitable presence of St Luke’s Kimilili while the rugby 7s pitches will miss the blistering pace of usually synonymous with St Perter’s Mumias Rough Machines.
The quintet who ruled 2025, winning both the national and East Africa titles, were the biggest casualties of the ruthless wave of eliminations that swept giants across the county.