School girls in tight race for honours in Soya gala

Kenya Under-20 volleyball team player Esther Mutinda and local tennis prodigy Roselinda Asumwa are among the nominees for the most outstanding girl award in the schools category of 2018 Safaricom Sports personality of the Year Awards (Soya).

Mutinda and Asumwa will battle it out with three others for the award whose winner will be announced at the Soya gala on January 11 at the iconic Fort Jesus in Mombasa.

Other contestants are Kwale Girls striker Elizabeth Katungwa, Faith Wanyonyi of Moi Girls Kamusinga and hockey star Joan Anjao from Tigoi Girls.

The awards are co-sponsored by Mombasa County, National Social Security Fund (NSSF), Communication Authority, Kenya Pipeline, GOTv, Local Authorities Provident Fund, New KCC, Kenya Ports Authority, Kenya Power, Sports Station and Protel Studios.

Mutinda helped Kwathanze retain the national and East Africa secondary schools volleyball titles in what was yet another successful year for the school.
Her exploits at the games earned her the Most Valuable Player title at the regional school games held in Musanze, Rwanda. Her achievements attracted the attention of Kenya Under-20 team coaches, and the youngster played for the team at the Africa Championships held in August.
Asumwa, who is a student at Ngomeni Secondary School in Kitui County, won girls singles title at both the national and East Africa schools championships this year. She also teamed up with Faith Nyabera to win girls doubles title at the regional games to help Kenya retain the title.

Asumwa has also played in a number of ITF East Africa competitions this year, the highlight being the final of the ITF East Africa Under-14 Circuit, where she lost to her twin sister Angela Okutoyi.

On the other hand, Katungwa was instrumental in Kwale Girls’ rise to a historic double, the school winning its first national and East Africa football titles. Katungwa was voted the MVP at the national championships after emerging top scorer with seven goals. She also scored the winning goal during the regional final against Kawempe Muslim of Uganda.

Moi Girls Kamusinga handball team goalkeeper Wanyonyi helped her side to a fifth national handball title. She was also instrumental in them reaching the final at the regional games where they lost to Uganda's Kibuli. Her exploits saw her voted MVP.

Tigoi Girls forward Anjao was the force behind her team's silver medals at both the national and East Africa games. She was top scorer at the nationals with eight goals, and was the MVP in East Africa games.