Coast Region football champions Mwanambeyu Girls High School are keen on announcing their arrival on the national stage in style.

Even though they are new to this level of competition, they are on a mission to excel and qualify for the Federation of East African Secondary Schools Sports Association (FEASSSA) games that the country will host from August 14-23 in Kakamega.

Mwanambeyu’s coach, Maxwell Wamba exuded confidence, saying their preparations are in top gear.  

“We are excited ahead of the national challenge. We have been preparing very well and we are currently fine-tuning all departments for optimum performance,” Wamba said.

He added that they are expecting stiff competition because the standards of the girls’ game are quite high.

“We don’t expect to have it easy at the nationals because the regional games are very tough. We had to dig deep to book our ticket to Kakamega and the girls are resolute to make their efforts count.”

He, however, added that they are wary of their Group B opponents who are equally good and top contenders for the national gong as well as East Africa games slots.

“We are in a group of death and we are strategising on how to come out of it safely. Our aim is to top the pool, but even if we finish second is still okay because reaching the semi-finals guarantees a team as a place in FEASSSA games,” Wamba added.

They face an uphill task in the preliminaries where they have to overpower homegirls Madira, national regulars Dagoretti Mixed from Nairobi and returnees Kobala Mixed from Nyanza.

Kobala returns to the big stage, having last featured in 2022, while Madira missed last year’s games.

Should they secure a place in the last four, they will be up against top performers in Group A, which has defending champions Butere Girls, Central’s Ruiru Girls, Dr Charles from Eastern and Rift Valley’s Nasokol Girls.

All semi-finalists will book their tickets to the 2025 East Africa games, which will also feature new sports like lacrosse and beach volleyball.