The COPA Coca-Cola Under-16 tournament, now in its 10th year of existence will have new champions in the boys’ category as last year’s champions, Kakamega High School, western region representatives will not be defending their title following their defeat at the county level.
In the girls’ category, Olympic High School, Nairobi region representatives will be seeking to retain the trophy they won during last year’s championship in Mombasa County. This years’ games will be hosted in Eldoret, in Uasin Gishu County at Hill School Secondary School from the 23rd July 2018 to 28th July 2018.
The games will have eight teams in each category, having been pooled into two groups, with two teams from each group progressing to the Semi-Final stage. In the boy’s category, Group A will have St. Peter’s Mumias High School (Western Region), St. Cyprian High School (Eastern Region), Riyabu Secondary School (Nyanza Region) and a representative from the North Eastern Region.
In Group B, St. Anthony High School (Rift Valley Region), Upper Hill High School (Nairobi Region), Olbolsat Secondary School (Central Region) and Kinondo Secondary School (Coast Region) will seek out a chance to top their group for a chance in the semi-final stage.
In the girl’s category, last years’ champions Olympic High School (Nairobi Region) have been pooled in Group A which also comprises of Wiyeta Secondary School (Rift Valley Region), Alliance Girls High School (Central Region) and Sega Girls High School (Nyanza Region) in the group of death.
In Group B, Tar Tar Girls High School (Rift Valley Region), Waa Girls Secondary School (Coast Region), Materdel High School (Eastern Region) and Moi Girls Nangili Secondary School (Western Region) will be out to prove doubters as they battle out to finish on top of other contenders.
The games will be a culmination of the Under-16 boys and girls’ tournament with a total of 5,000 schools having registered and participated for a chance to be inaugurated as the national champions.
Since 2008, the tournament has had over ten thousand students participating in the tournament.
The tournament is under the Ministry of Education, in partnership between Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) and The Coca-Cola Company.
Below are the groupings for the national finals.
NATIONAL FINALS GROUPS
| BOYS | GIRLS | ||
| GROUP A | GROUP B | GROUP A | GROUP B |
| St. Peter’s Mumias High School (Western Region) | St. Anthony High School (Rift Valley Region) | Olympic High School (Nairobi Region) | Tar Tar Girls High School (Rift Valley Region) |
| St. Cyprian High School (Eastern Region) | Upper Hill High School (Nairobi Region) | Wiyeta Secondary School (Rift Valley Region) | Waa Girls Secondary School (Coast Region) |
| Riyabu Secondary School (Nyanza Region) | Olbolsat Secondary School (Central Region) | Alliance Girls High School (Central Region) | Materdel High School (Eastern Region) |
| (North Eastern Region Representative) | Kinondo Secondary School (Coast Region) | Sega Girls High School (Nyanza Region) | Moi Girls Nangili Secondary School (Western Region) |
The North Eastern Regional Finals will be held at Sabunley Secondary School in Wajir from 18th July to 22nd July 2018. The winning team will then proceed to Eldoret to battle it out for the national title.
Rift Valley Region as the hosts, will be represented by two girl’s teams since North Easter region will not be fielding a girls’ team.
