Giants stand firm as new champions match to national games in Kisumu

After days of braving fierce opponents and tough weather conditions, it was celebration time as Nairobi and Coast regions crowned their champions, commissioning them to fly their flag high at the national games.  

While the ultimate prize was slots to the Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) National Term One games next month, the two championships were defined by two distinct narratives.

One of the iron-fisted rule of established powerhouses and the other of a burning desire and determination to rise and shake off the underdogs tag.

In Nairobi, Dagoretti High continued with their reign of terror on the basketball courts to bag their seventh consecutive regional title.

Dagoretti have played at every national since dethroning former national and East Africa champions Upper Hill in 2018.

However, their victory in this year’s final did not come easy as they faced a tough Highway Secondary School.

Unlike previous years where they won convincingly, this time they were forced to dig deep as Highway gave them a run for their money.

They held the nerve to secure a narrow 69-65 win in what could be a sign that their peers are gradually catching up.

Moi Girls Nairobi finally punched a ticket to the national games after hitting last year’s basketball winners Olympic High 50-40 in the final.

Nairobi has had a new girls' basketball champion each year since the resumption of the games in 2022 after the Covid-19 pandemic. Former national champions Buruburu were eliminated in the semis.

In rugby 15s, Upper Hill, who only returned to the nationals last year, proved that they are back and the years that they stayed in the cold were just but a bad season.

They were unstoppable from start to finish, ending their title defence campaign with a dominant 67-5 final win against Strathmore School. Mbagathi lifted the first girls' rugby 15s title after thrashing rivals Karen C 34-0.

Hospital Hill and Mwiki Secondary School retained their hockey titles, securing their return to the nationals where they will be looking to improve on last year’s performance.

Hospital Hill, who beat former regional holders Nairobi School 3-1 in the final, exited the nationals at the group stage.

Mwiki finished fourth after losing in the third-place play-off by a solitary goal to Ng’iya Girls but were lucky to feature at the East Africa games in Kakamega.

After their 6-1 win against Pangani Girls, coach Wesley Osinde said that they really needed to play at the nationals this year.

“Consistency is key to improvement and positive results and it was crucial for us to qualify for this year’s games. I believe that with the experience gained last year, the girls will play well and secure a podium finish,” Osinde said.

Highway confirmed last year’s victory against former national handball champions Hospital Hill to book a ticket to the nationals.

In another painful exit, Hospital Hill suffered a narrow 20-22 defeat. In 2025, they lost by one goal to relinquish their crown. St Claire Nembu grabbed the girls’ trophy following their resounding 38-21 win over Ruai Girls.

Coastal bigwigs Kaya Tiwi, Dr Aggrey and St Charles Lwanga proved their might in basketball and hockey.

Kaya Tiwi, who won Kenya’s last girls' East Africa basketball trophy in 2016, bagged their ninth title in a row with a resounding 88-5 win against St John’s Kaloneni. Dr Aggrey beat Mombasa Baptist 37-25 in the boys basketball final to retain their title.

Hockey powerhouse St Charles lifted both the boys and girls titles following their 2-0 and 5-0 wins against Waa Boys and Jilore Secondary School respectively.

New champions were crowned in handball. Kenyatta High School Mwatate and Mwatate Secondary School dethroned Jaibuni Secondary School and Moi Forces Academy who they defeated in the final.

Kwale High School will return to the nationals after winning the boys' rugby 15s gong while Moi Forces will represent the region in the girls category.

Kwale beat Marafa Secondary School 24-0 in the final while Moi Forces dominated the round robin challenge. The regions selected composite athletics and swimming teams.