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They may have vanished from the secondary schools’ sporting scene, but these sleeping giants defined the golden era of Kenya’s school sports.
The history of Kenyan sports will certainly be incomplete without institutions that laid a solid sporting foundation.
While the 1966 inaugural Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) National championship featured boys’ athletics only, the games have grown in leaps and bounds to the current Term One and Term Two activities, as well as the broader Federation of East African School Sports Association (FEASSA).
From St Patrick’s Iten, to the fallen hockey empires Kisumu Boys, Friends School Kamusinga, Pangani Girls, Kerugoya Girls, Sinyolo Girls, the iconic Green Commandos, just to mention a few, sports enthusiasts yearn for the return of the schools that entertained them in the last years.
Since the early 1990s, secondary school sports have evolved from a co-curricular activity to a phenomenon that draws crowds that can’t even be rivaled by top leagues in the country.
However, gone are the days when some teams dominated, winning trophies at will, for the tides have changed, with many of the traditional powerhouses losing grip on their supremacy.
Once a household name in volleyball, St Patrick’s Iten dominated in the 1970s, winning the national crown for 15 years in a row.
Though they boast 17 national gongs, they have struggled to reclaim their lost glory since winning their last trophy in 1990.
Last year, they lost to the reigning national and East Africa champions, Cheptil High School, in the final of the Rift Valley Region, which was one of their best performances in many years.
Even so, they are not the only ones who have disappeared from the boys’ volleyball scene. Former national champions Eastleigh High School, Giakanja Secondary School, Kiriti Secondary School, Manor High School, and Paul Boit Secondary School have also remained in the cold for many years.
Their absence paved the way for the rise of Malava High School and Cheptil, who have won five and seven national trophies respectively since 2007.
Hospital Hill, Sengera Secondary School, PAG Mogonga, and Ruthimitu Mixed have won one national trophy each within the period.
Lugulu, the volleyball queens of the 20th century and early 2000s, who were practically the women’s national team in school uniform, and their bitter rivals Sacred Heart Mukumu, have also been overshadowed over the years with the rise of Kwanthanze Secondary School, AIC Kosirai, who have also fizzled out, and Kesogon Secondary School.
Lugulu are gradually making their return to the top while Mukumu, who minted stars such as the celebrated late Malkia Strikers setter Janet Wanja and Aisha Makuto, are yet to return to winning ways.
Malava Girls, who honed the skills of former Malkia Strikers and Kenya Pipeline libero Agripina Kundu, Violet Makuto, and Leonida Kasaya, also vanished.
From Kamukunji High School, the Wanyama brothers, including current Football Kenya Federation (FKF) deputy president MacDonald Mariga and Victor Wanyama, went on to make history with their outstanding football careers in Europe.
It was at the school that was a force to reckon with in the early 2000s that Dennis Oliech also sharpened his skills.
It has since faded away as the likes of Upper Hill and the Highway Secondary School took over the reins of the Nairobi region and won national titles.
Upper Hill was dethroned by Dagoretti High in Nairobi in 2018, thus relinquishing their national gong, and have since failed to qualify for the big stage.
Dagoretti High played at the nationals in 2019, then lost to Highway in 2022 before securing their ticket to the 2023 national games. Highway then recaptured the Nairobi title in 2024 and were crowned the national champions in the same year.
Interestingly, the rise of both Upper Hill and Dagoretti High was during the leadership of the now Kibra MP Peter Orero who served both schools as a principal.
The rise and fall of these and many other institutions is a true testament to the fact that the school heads play a key role in the success of both academics and co-curricular activities. Orero was also at the helm of football at Kamukunji when the school triumphed.
Highway principal Irungu Nduati, who joined the school in 2020, said that school heads determine the success or failure of teams.
“Any school team requires immense support from the administration. Without a supportive principal, a team cannot excel, no matter how talented the students are, because it requires not just goodwill but a lot of investment,” Irungu said.
Just like Orero, who spurred Kamukunji, Upper Hill, and Dagoretti High to greater heights in multiple sports such as football, basketball, rugby, and hockey, Irungu has made strides at Highway, leading them to national and East Africa football silver medals in 2022, a national title in 2024, and bronze in 2025.
Last year, Highway dethroned Hospital Hill in handball to book a ticket to the national games, where they won bronze and crowned it with an East African bronze on their first attempt.
Irungu added that he started from scratch when he took up the administrative role at Highway and has sought the services of qualified coaches to build the teams.
“The fields were there, but I had to start from scratch because there were no sports structures. They used to play, but never went past the sub-county level. We have invested in sports through scholarships to talented but needy students because for us it’s not just about winning trophies but transforming lives,” he added.
He revealed that he is gradually growing different disciplines in the school, and the students continue to excel in basketball, tennis, table tennis, and hockey, in addition to football and handball.
The once-revered football giants, Kakamega’s Green Commandos and their rugby 15 counterparts, the Barbarians, are also yet to recover from the transfer of their former principal, Oliver Minishi, who moved to Nanyuki High School in December 2017, though he is now retired.
After Minishi’s exit, Kakamega High School survived in 2018 and 2019, perhaps due to the structures he had put in place, but it has continued to struggle after the games resumed in 2022, following a two-year break due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Both Green Commandos and Barbarians have failed to qualify for the national games, wallowing in the shadows of rivals Musingu High School in football and Butula Boys High School and Vihiga High School in rugby 15s.
Maseno School, a sleeping basketball and rugby giant, has also struggled following the exit of its former head, the late Paul Otula.
St Anthony’s Boys High School Kitale football team has also not been to the national stage in 2024 and 2025 and will be hoping to book their spot this year.
The hockey side has remained consistent over the years, though they lost the national trophy to Musingu in 2023.
The consistent rise of St Joseph’s Girls High School, Kitale, and Ng’iya Girls High School also points to the key that school heads have to unlock success in sports.
St Joseph’s, popularly known as JOGA, has become a powerhouse thanks to the support of chief principal Rosebella Orwaru, who joined the school from former national and East Africa girls football champions Wiyeta Girls Secondary School.
JOGA are the reigning East Africa hockey champions, having bagged their second title in a row. They also excelled in handball, rugby 7s, basketball, and netball.
It is the same script with different casts at Ng’iya Girls, where former Sinyolo Girls principal Hellen Masengeli is slowly but surely transforming the school into a sports powerhouse, with their hockey and basketball teams already excelling.
Last year, they won the East Africa basketball 3X3 title and a bronze medal in hockey on their debut.
Whereas some school heads back their teams, the opposite is also true, as some have fallen from grace due to a lack of support.
For instance, former national and East Africa champions Sinyolo and Kerugoya Girls have been on a free fall since the transfer of their dedicated heads.
Sinyolo suffered another setback with the transfer of their former coach, Alloise Owino.
Former basketball and netball champions Shimba Hills are also among the schools that were affected by changes in administration.