Athletics Kenya (AK) Coast branch chairman Dimmy Kisalu is rooting for Kenya to better their 2015 All Africa Games medal tally in the this year's edition set for Casablanca, Morocco next month.
Kenya bagged 32 medals (Six gold, nine silver and 17 bronze) in the previous edition staged in Congo, Brazzaville to finish seventh. Kisalu, who will serve as the team manager, has predicted a better harvest for Team Kenya.
Kisalu, who also doubles up as Athletics Kenya vice treasurer, is banking on the increment of participants in field events and sprints to increase the medal tally.
The administrator, who also served as the team manager in the 2011 edition held in Maputo, Mozambique in 2011, was speaking during athletics seminars for young sports journalists over the weekend in Mombasa. The event was organised by Sports Journalists Association of Kenya and sponsored by Lotto and Kenya Ports Authority among others.
Kenya finished sixth in Maputo with 50 medals (14 gold, 14 silver and 22 bronze)."We have a chance to better our results from the previous edition since we have diversified. We are taking a good team, a blend of both upcoming and experienced athletes and I believe we will have a good outing. We have put emphasis on the areas we have been performing dismally," said Kisalu.
"The team have talented athletes in field and sprint events which have not been our major strength and we are looking forward to getting something this time around."
Meanwhile, Kisalu who is one of the three accredited Kenyan International Technical Officer has called upon county governments to consider upgrading the sporting facilities at the grassroots level to enable the growth of the sport at the regional level.
Kisalu rued lack of modern-day athletics equipment and the sad state of stadia as one of the challenges faced by the various federations in their quest to develop the various disciplines in the country.
"For the sport to grow, we need sound facilities to help nurture talents from the grassroots levels. It's unfortunate our athletes are exposed to arguably the best facilities when at the national level, thus a challenge in adapting," said Kisalu.
"It's time each and every county government empowers their sports departments by upgrading stadia and coming up with modern-day equipment for the benefit of the sport. With good facilities, it will be easier for AK to execute the technical part, train more coaches and nurture talents."
