Kenyan players cheer at the start of last year's East Africa Games . [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard]
For the first time in years, the Federation of East Africa Schools Sports Association (FEASSA) games that begin tomorrow in Morogoro, Tanzania, will miss its most dominant powerhouse Kwanthanze Mixed Senior School.
This follows their shock fourth-place finish at a bruising national championship that left not just the Kenyan, but the East African girls volleyball hierarchy radically altered.
Kwanthanze’s absence paves the way for a fierce new succession battle as the spotlight shifts to 2024 East Africa winners Kesogon Mixed Senior School, who are now the national queens following their outstanding display.
Kesogon, Soweto Academy and bronze medallists St Martha’s Mwitoti now carry the crushing weight of expectations and a unified mission to ensure that the prestigious regional title remains firmly on Kenyan soil. Kesogon enters the championship as the nominal favourites among the trio, having already tasted the sweetness of East African glory.
However, they will face immense pressure from their local rivals as well as 2015 regional champions GS Indagaburezi of Rwanda, who return to the big stage with years of insatiable hunger for glory to satisfy.
Soweto, who lost to Kesogon in the national Term Two games final, will bank on the killer-blocks that anchored them to a second-place finish.
Mwitoti, who dismantled Kwanthanze, will bring a gritty high-tempo style of play coupled with their sheer tactical discipline and unbreakable team chemistry. Soweto captain Ida Amela said they have worked on areas that were not clicking at the nationals and they will stage an improved performance.