Kenya’s basketball 3x3 teams have vowed to topple Uganda’s Buddo Secondary School when the Federation of East Africa Secondary Schools Sports Association games get underway in Mbale, Uganda on Sunday.
Budo bagged both titles during last year’s event at Huye in Rwanda. Budo are also the boys’ 5x5 champion.
Kenya will be represented by St Joseph’s Kitale, popularly known as JOBO, Onjiko School and Friends School, Kamusinga in the boys’ category. The girls’ category will have St Joseph’s Girls Kitale, Butere Girls and Nasokol.
St Joseph’s Girls Kitale coach Patrice Kisaka said: “We have what it takes to compete with the Ugandans. It will be war and we want to use the one-week
training camp at Mukumu Girls to rectify the mistakes we made at the nationals in Kisii School,” said Kisaka.
Kisaka backed Gai Nyayual, who was named the Most Valuable Player during the nationals, to inspire his team to victory.
Butere Girls coach Vincent Omondi said they want to improve on their third-place finish.
“We want to lift the title. That’s our target because last year, we finished third. The competition at the regionals is always stiff but I’m confident our 3x3 and 5x5 teams will perform well,” said Omondi.
His Nasokol counterpart Mark Kewasis says: “It will be our first time in Uganda. My target is a top-three finish.”
St Joseph’s Boys Kitale coach Herman Masafu is eyeing a dream debut at the regional extravaganza. “We want to bring the glory to Kenya. We are not afraid of the Ugandans, Rwandese or any other team because we are the champions here in Kenya,” said Masafu.
St Joseph’s will rely on Solomon Leek, who was voted the Most Valuable Player at the nationals, to lift the regional title.
St Joseph’s beat Onjiko 16-14 to lift their maiden title at Kisii School last week. Onjiko’s coach and principal Joseph Were said: “We want to do better than last year because we learnt from our mistakes. We want to play in the final.”
He admitted that they lost the final against St Joseph’s due to a lack of concentration in the last minutes.
Indomie Kenya’s marketing administrator Lucy Nyambura says they will continue to partner with the Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) to develop and appreciate basketball talents.
“We want to have a long-term partnership with KSSSA. We aim to continue rewarding and appreciating top-performing teams,” she said. During the nationals, Indomie Kenya kitted all the participating teams and gave gift hampers to the top three teams.