Ofafa Jericho will be using the National Prescott Cup as a build-up for next year’s Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) Games.
Jericho lost in the inaugural National Prescott Cup last year to eventual champions Vihiga in the semifinal.
Coach James said they will use this year’s event to lay a platform for next year’s competitions as well as the Sevens and 15’s calendar. “The team that will play this week will be mostly Form Three, Two, and Ones as we prepare a team for next year,” he noted.
He said they face some of the top teams in the competition and this will provide valuable lessons and build their confidence ahead of next year.
Ofafa will renew rivalry with Vihiga, Nyanza champions Kisii High, Ngong Township Secondary School, and Alliance Boys from Central in Pool B.
Pool ‘A’ will feature Koyonzo, St. Mary’s Yala, Kabianga, St. Augustine Secondary School and Malindi High School.
Kaili termed the pool tricky but said he expects his charges to be competitive for the four matches spread over three days. “It will be a tough test but we have trained well. The plan for the team is to build depth for next year and look at the combinations. This will also help us build confidence levels in the boys ahead of next season,” said Kaili
Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) development officer, Ronald Okoth, said plans for the tournament are complete with the upcountry teams especially those from Western, Nyanza, and Coast expected in the city on Wednesday (today).
“Preparations for the tournament are complete and the teams from upcountry are expected to arrive by Wednesday (today) before the competition starts on Thursday (tomorrow),” said Okoth
The tournament will be played on Thursday and Friday at the RFUEA Ground and the final will take place at the Impala Club on Saturday as a curtain-raiser to the Impala Ffloodlit tourney starting the same day.
Okoth said the union held a pilot primary school competition in Nairobi which he hopes will continue next year.
“We are very keen to have Under-14 and Under-12 rugby competitions with our school system as part of the Curriculum Based Curriculum. We hope to build upon it with the U-16 and U-18 in the years to come.”
