Absence of defending champions expected to herald new winners in the U16 Copa Coca Cola

Lynette Matheka @PeopleSports11

In the absence of the defending champions St Anthony High and Moi Girls Nangili, new champions will be crowned when teams do battle in this year’s U16 football COPA Coca-Cola Nationals which kick off on July 30 at Kisumu National Polytechnic.

Thirty-two teams will fight for the two tickets, in boys’ and girls’ category, to represent the country in the second edition of the COPA Coca-Cola Africa championship.

Girls’ Pool A has Nyanza’s Ugari, 2016 champions Wiyeta, debutantes Dagoretti Mixed and Njabini from Central region while Pool B will see third runners up in last year’s championship Waa take on K’Obala Mixed, Maeni and Eastern’s Itaara.

Former champions Wiyeta will be seeking to stamp their dominance in the girl’s category after losing in the final last year. They will, however, face stiff competition from Dagoretti who are determined to make their debut count.

“We have lost in the regional finals in the last two editions but since we finally broke the deadlock, we are determined to go all the way. Most of the players feature in the Nairobi County league with a Kabete-based team and that has given them confidence that should help in this competition,” said Dagoretti coach Maurice Okumu.

In the boys’ category Pool A pits Goseta Boys against Koyonzo, Serani Gatamaiyu while Pool B has Dagoretti, Agoro Sare, Machakos Boys and a yet to be named representative from the North Eastern region.

Similarly, a new champion is in the offing in boys’ volleyball as holders Malava Boys miss this year’s edition. Only three of the eight teams that will compete for the title featured in last year’s competition as a good number of teams are making their debut.

Lang’ata High, on their second appearance, are confident they have what it takes to go for the title as they start their maiden title camping in a relatively easy pool that has Western’s Namwela, Eastern’ Mutewa and a North Eastern region representative.

Last year, Lang’ata announced their arrival in the national games scene with a fifth place finish but coach Francis Mwangi says the experience gained in that competition will go a long way in helping them fight for the title.

“We have prepared well, playing against better teams like Strathmore University and few other local teams, as we expect the competition to be stiff. We are up against very new teams and one has to expect surprises against such opposition. 

We will play all our matches the same way we would a final match,” said coach Mwangi.