Three Kenyan winter athletes will have a two-week training camp in Pyeongchang, South Korea in January.
The scholarship applications for roller skating duo of Chebet Njeri Koech, 12 and Likiza Chumbana Muhusini, 15 alongside ice-skater Hassnein Ali Shah, 12 were successful and they will be accompanied by coach Asa Nyariki Obonyo to South Korea between January 6 and 18.
The camp, dubbed 'Drean Program' is a legacy initiative of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics 2018 seeking to nurture young sports talents who can represent their countries in winter championships in the future.
Meanwhile, over 100 athletes have reported to the first National Elite Youth Camp at Lukenya Academy in early preparation for the 2022 Youth Olympic Games set for Dakar, Senegal.
The athletes, aged between 12 and 15, are drawn from across 13 sports disciplines and were nominated by their respective federations.
The disciplines include athletics under coach Stephen Lagat, badminton under Sheila Gakii, basketball led by coach Sylvester Ndindi, cycling tutored by Johnson Chiungu, handball trained by Gerald Abunde and hockey five-aside under the tutelage of Michael Malungu. Others are Judo under Lawrence Nyundo, rugby sevens coached by Nicholas Abala, taekwondo under Vincent Ochieng, tennis coached by Peter Rakuom, triathlon by Malik Mwabondo, beach volleyball by Sammy Mulinge and wrestling under John Mburu.
The camp began on Sunday and will be officially launched tomorrow by National Olympic Committee of Kenya President Paul Tergat.
Nock acting secretary-general Francis Mutuku said that national federations shared their criteria for identifying athlete nationally including their international qualification guidelines to ensure the selections are objective and accountable.
"The camp aims at nurturing young talents in the country with a view to enable as many youths as possible to participate in the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar. Nock considers these Games as a great platform to kick start the participants' professional careers in sports," said Mutuku.
He reiterated that preparations of athletes is very important so Nock cannot leave anything to chance.
The multi-sports camp will mould the youths all round, including technical coaching, strength and conditioning, nutrition, mentorship, personal branding, media presentation and other social activities.
"This camp will be an opportunity for Nock's technical team to interact with the coaches to understand the dynamics of each sport and forge a strategy for retaining these athletes on their pathway to professional sports career," he added.
