School Games: Wekesa targeting first national football title with Madira

Madira Girls head coach Eddy Wekesa is confident they will clinch their first national football title in the Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association scheduled for July 29- August 2 2025 in Kakamega.

Wekesa believes they have the tools to run riot and oust reigning champions Butere Girls.

“When we kicked off the school competitions our target was to win the national title. We are getting closer and we are confident we shall win our first title. We are prepared to fight,” Wekesa told Citizen Digital.

The Red Commandos have been a thorn in the flesh for Madira having beaten them in the Western regional final and in the 2023 semis; a result Wekesa rued fatigue noting that they have the quality to match them.

“What happened in 2023 is that we were fatigued because we were in three different competitions. We were playing Division One matches, school games and the Onguso Cup at the same time. We even used to split squads in some matches and injuries to achieve the results we wanted in those competitions,” Wekesa said.

He added, “We had many players struggling for fitness but this time our concentration is the national title and I’m glad I have an almost a hundred percent fit squad.”

Since 2023’s 1-0 loss to Butere Girls, the two teams have met twice with Madira winning once while Butere winning the other tie, with identical 1-0 score line.

Wekesa has insisted that they will take a match at a time, and they will not underrate any opponent in their quest to ascend to the national title.

Madira have been gearing up for the national showpiece with training sessions at Moi Stadium, Kisumu.

“We’ve been doing intense training but we are now going into light training sessions. We are in good shape psychologically, mentally and physically.”

Wekesa is at the same time sweating over the fitness of Rising Starlets lethal attacker Valerie Nekesa, with just a week left until the competition kicks off.

They are in Pool B alongside Nairobi region giants Dagoretti Mixed, Kobala Girls from Nyanza and Coast's Mwanambeyu Girls.

Group A consists of hosts and reigning champions Butere Girls, Ruiru Girls from Central, Eastern’s Dr. Charles and Nasokol Girls from Rift Valley.