National Olympic Committee of Kenya will hold an Elite Youth Development Program with its National Youth Camp scheduled to take place from January 9–18 at Merishaw School, Isinya, Kajiado County.
This program is geared towards preparations for the various Youth Games scheduled for 2023.
According to the calendar of events, the Zone (V) Africa Youth Games will be staged in March in Ethiopia as Congo Brazzaville hosts the Africa Youth Games in April.
The Commonwealth Youth Games are set for August in the Caribbean Island of Trinidad and Tobago.
NOC-K sees this as a long-term plan to gain ground towards the maiden Olympics in Africa, 2026 the Dakar Youth Olympics.
The 10-day camp will have about 200 athletes from 22 federations converging for an intense program to learn new skills, work together as Team Kenya, meet other players and new coaches.
The youth camps are designed not only for technical training but also for life skills. Education sessions are also scheduled in the program including Olympic Values, media training and team building. The Elite Performance Commission will also ensure the camp has expertise in sports science.
“We are excited to start the year on a high with priority being the youth. We have requested federations to ensure athletes joining the camp are aged between 14 and 18 years as at August 1, 2023. They must be top athletes in their respective sport and must have participated in County, National, regional and international games,” said Youth Commission Chairman David Ngugi.
“This camp will also be an opportunity for the youth coaches who are under the Youth Development Coaches Program to expand their knowledge and experience towards the Youth Olympics.”
The coaches will be taken through a series of workshops before the camp on working with youth athletes.
This is the third edition of the Youth Camp. The inaugural edition was held in 2019 at Lukenya Academy in Machakos County. Kenyatta University, Ruiru hosted the second edition last year.
