The sleeping giant of Trans Nzoia, Goseta Boys, are raring to rise again, having fallen along the way to average around 5.29 and 6.8 between 2013 and 2022.
In 2012, Goseta was high-riding with a mean score of 7.9, and they are beginning to tick again after showing glimpses of brilliance to get 7.4 in 2023. The intervening period though was not all too impressive, dropping at some point to a low of 5.1.
It was the Trans Nzoia KUPPET chairman Eliud Wafula who gave it the fond moniker ‘The Sleeping Giant’ owing to its past superb performance in both national exams and co-curricular activities.
The county school was once iconic where soccer talent was poached by other schools, enticing them with settlement of the entire fees burden. And who could resist that?
Apart from football, other genres that resounded the name of the school were Chess, volleyball, athletics and Scouting.
That was then, a part of their history that will go down as the most glamorous. It was when the no-nonsense principal Cosmas Nabongolo ruled with an iron rod, but left for St Anthony Boys Kitale in 1999 with a handful of soccer players, leaving Goseta to build up their team from scratch.
At St Anthony’s, Nabongolo met a teacher Geoffrey Murunga who inspired him in school management, soccer enthusiasm and public administration. Little did he know that his “tutor” would be transferred to Goseta and turn around to be his competitor.
Murunga, now Senior Principal, was moved to Goseta at the beginning of 2024 from Ortum Boys in West Pokot in the reverse policy of delocalization, which also saw Nabongolo moved from St Peter’s Mumias to St Joseph’s Boys, pitting him head-on against Murunga.
“We want to overturn the tables for Goseta to reclaim its glory and title. They cannot be there forever. We are coming after them,” Murunga said in an interview in his office glittering with numerous trophies won in different academic and sports arenas.
Apparently, he was referring to St Joseph’s Boys, St Brigid’s Girls, St Anthony’s Boys, St Monica’s Girls, Makunga Secondary and Kitale School as the targeted nemesis which have continued to dominate in national exams and sports.
And at a pre-trial match between Goseta and St Joseph’s last week, Murunga and Nabongolo separately entered MoUs with an American Academy, Monteverda in Florida, that is geared towards empowering the youth.
According to the academy’s director Kevin Varnado, who visited the schools to assess the capability and preparedness of the students, the exchange programme will benefit Kenyan students both in academic and sports fields.
The presence of Murunga in Trans Nzoia has sent jitters around competing schools, but he is particularly careful to acknowledge his mentors in his journey to stardom.
“I owe my allegiance to him as both my senior and guide,” he said, referring to Nabungolo.
Once heading St Barnabas Sabwani Mixed, St Benedict Kapsigilai in Trans Nzoia, and Kaptabee Mixed in Uasin Ngishu, he is not afraid to compete either.
“It is not sinful for a child to aspire to start from where his father left and go further than him,” he said, subtly inviting serious competition from his former colleagues and heads.
For the last two years, Goseta has had three students venturing abroad to pursue their soccer talent. Luis Ingavi went to the US and James Mulwa and Edison Bwire relocated to Mali after they got sponsorships courtesy of football, thanks to coach/teacher Samuel Oindo.
But how does Goseta plan to reclaim its giant tag? How will they overcome the challenges that dogged them throughout the years? Or is it the normal song and excitement of promise whenever schools get new heads?
That remains the challenge, but the stakes are high and the tension is building.
By our reporter
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