Strathmore University have beefed up their men and women’s sides as they seek better fortunes in the Kenya Hockey Union (KHU) League that was recently suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The women’s Premier League bullied off last month, with Strathmore Scorpion playing to a barren draw against Dutch Flowers Group Wolverines, while the men’s equivalent was scheduled to begin last weekend before the union called off all action in line with a government driven to help control the spread of the deadly virus.
Strathmore men’s side, Gladiators, who languished at the tail end of the table for the better part of last season before staging a late fightback to escape the drop have recruited five players drawn from secondary schools across the country.
They are goalkeeper Eugene Sifuna and forward Godfrey Owino from Federation of East Africa Secondary Schools Sports Association champions Friends School Kamusinga, defender Brian Gitau and forward Logan Mabuka from St Anthony’s Kitale and midfielder Oscar Otieno from Maseno School.
Strathmore women, also known as Scorpions, finished third last season, and have brought on board 10 players also drawn from various schools.
They include forward Jane Mang’o, goalkeeper Rita Opiti and defender Damaris Akinyi from Nyamira Girls High School as well as midfielder Maureen Ongoche, defender Christine Awor and attacking midfielder Stephanie Akinyi from hockey powerhouse Sinyolo Secondary School.
Others are defender Lilian Wesonga from Eregi Girls, midfielder Venessa Sudi (Karimi Girls), forward Rachael Khamala (St Cecilia High School) and defender Vickline Achieng (Kisumu Girls Secondary).
Meshack Senge, the coach of both Gladiators and Scorpions, is hopeful the new signings will do good to the varsity sides as they seek top honours in their respective leagues.
“The ladies begun the season on a wrong foot but we hope to recover. Our intention is to better our performance of last year, and just like every other teams in the league we are also eyeing the title.
“They are good players who have shown tremendous potential.”
He continued: “Definitely we want to get everything right this time around for the men’s team. We don’t want to find ourselves in the position we were last time and I believe with this squad better results await us.”
Senge is the former Kenya men’s team coach.
