Agoro Sare, Asumbi Girls axed from national secondary schools Term One games

St Mary's School Yala poses for a photo during the Nyanza regional championships final last week/ANGWENYI GICHANA

Agoro Sare and Asumbi Girls' High School basketball teams have been disqualified from next week’s Brookside Dairies Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) term one games.

The disqualification follows successful appeals by St Mary’s School, Yala, and Barchando Girls'. Yala and Barchando lost to Agoro Sare and Asumbi Girls, respectively, during the Nyanza region finals held at Maseno School.

During the regional final, Agoro Sare narrowly beat Yala 60-59 to win the title, while Asumbi had an emphatic 80-41 win over Barchando.

Yala and Barchando filed appeals alleging that the two schools fielded ineligible players during the championships.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Nyanza region supreme jury, chaired by the Nyanza Deputy Regional Director of Education Allan Omondi, upheld Yala and Barchando’s appeals during the hearing in Kisumu.

Agoro Sare were found guilty of fielding two ineligible players, while Asumbi were found guilty of fielding one ineligible player who had also not met the 90-day transfer rule.

Agoro Sare and Asumbi were slapped with a one-year ban. They were, however, allowed to appeal. The ban means the two schools will not feature in next year’s game unless their ban is overturned.

Subsequently, Yala and Barchando will proceed to represent Nyanza at the national championships, which will run from April 5 to 11 in Kisumu.

Barchando replaces Asumbi in pool ‘B’. The pool features Ikutha Girls', Kaya Tiwi, and Loreto Girls'. Pool ‘A’ has defending champions Butere Girls', St Brigid’s Girls' Kiminini, Moi Girls' Nairobi, and representatives from North Eastern.

In the boys’ category, St Mary’s School Yala replaces Agoro Sare in Pool 'B’. The pool features Friends School Kamusinga, Mang’u High, and representatives from the North Eastern region.

Defending champions Laiser Hill headline pool ‘A’ alongside former champions Dr Aggrey, Dagoretti High, and Lukenya High. The North Eastern championships will be concluded on Thursday in Wajir.

St Mary’s School Yala games master Peter Ojwala welcomed the decision.

“We are now looking forward to the national championships in Kisumu next week,” said Ojwala.

Yala will have an unprecedented three teams at the nationals after the Rugby 15s and handball teams won the regional titles last week.