The National Olympic Committee of Kenya will offer scholarships to top teenage athletes and teams ahead of the 2022 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal.
This, Francis Mutuku, the Nock acting secretary general, said will be actualised through the support of the Olympic Solidarity Program.
He said the Nock Youth Commission will take charge of this program and hopefully, it will create expand Kenya's medal prospects at the global Games.
Mutuku revealed that they are in discussions with national federations to identify areas of collaboration which will be crucial in unearthing and nurturing talents. The targeted age group is between 12 years and 16-year-olds from all over the country.
“This is a great challenge to Nock and to federations, but also a great eye-opener that professional athletes are nurtured from a very young age. We expect that this will activate age-grade athlete development in all federations, especially the ones without these structures,” said Mutuku.
Senegal will become the first African country to host an Olympic event of any calibre. YOG also feature educational and cultural exchanges for athletes between the ages of 15 years and 18 years.
YOG is a youth version of the Olympic Games, offering the core summer sports, with variations in the disciplines such as 3x3 basketball, mixed nationality relays and mixed-gender relays among others.
The build-up to the YOG will also be part of preparations and participation in Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago in 2021, ANOCA Zone V Games in Egypt in 2021 and African Youth Games in Lesotho in 2022. Some of these Games will also act as qualification events.
