- Totum Girls Junior Secondary School of West Pokot was thrown out of the 2026 National Junior Secondary girls’ football competition after fielding ineligible players in the Rift Valley final.
- Hill School Girls of Uasin Gishu successfully contested the result, with the appeals committee awarding them the slot to represent Rift Valley at the national championships in Thika.
Totum Girls Junior Secondary School of West Pokot County have been thrown out of the 2026 National Junior Secondary School girls’ football competition after being found guilty of fielding ineligible players during the Rift Valley regional final at Nakuru Boys High School.
The disqualification followed a formal protest by Hill School Girls of Uasin Gishu County, who had lost the regional final 4-2 on penalties after the two sides played to a 1-1 draw in normal time. Hill School contested the outcome, arguing that Totum had fielded players who did not meet the competition’s eligibility requirements.
The competition’s appeals committee took up the protest and, after reviewing the matter, ruled in favour of Hill School, resulting in Totum’s disqualification from the tournament. With the ruling, Hill School Girls have been awarded the fixture and officially confirmed as Rift Valley’s representatives in the girls’ football category at the National Junior Secondary School Games, scheduled to take place in Thika, Kiambu County.
Totum had maintained their innocence in the build-up to the ruling, insisting that all their players satisfied the tournament’s regulations, and had already begun preparations for the national championships before the verdict was delivered.
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The outcome brings to a close a dispute that had cast a shadow over the girls’ football competition, with Hill School consistently pressing the claim that several of Totum’s players were ineligible to feature in the regional final.
Hill School Girls will now turn their attention to the national stage, where they are set to carry Rift Valley’s hopes in the girls’ football category, having secured their place through a successful appeal rather than on the pitch.
The ruling stands as a pointed reminder to institutions competing in Kenya’s junior school sports calendar of the need to strictly observe player eligibility regulations, safeguarding the integrity of school sports competitions nationwide.
By Jeff Kirui
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