National women's beach volleyball coach Salome Wanjala believes the pair of Sharon Jepkosgei and Abigael Chebet will bring competition to the senior players in the discipline.
The pair are part of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya 10-day Elite Youth Camp at Merishaw School, Isinya, where athletes drawn from various sports have gathered.
The juniors are fine-tuning their preparations in readiness for the Youth Africa Games and Youth Commonwealth Games.
Gaudencia Makokha and Brackcides Agala are the country's most experienced players, having played at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games as well as the Commonwealth Games in the United Kingdom last year.
“We have a very tough youth team and it motivates me as the coach. This is a team that will challenge the seniors this year. With so many games ahead, we just need to support them and give them proper training,” Wanjala said.
Jepkosgei, 19, who is said to be the country's best prospect, said: “The camp has helped me gain confidence and create friendships. It’s not only building my confidence at the game but also socially."
The camp had a team-building session over the weekend conducted by Commonwealth Games 100m champion and Africa's fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala and 5000m double Olympic silver medalist Hellen Obiri.
Obiri dared the juniors to dream big, saying: “Youths are the future. The next 5,000m world champion is here. My dream is to get a gold medal in the Olympics and I haven't given up. I’m still pursuing it and am now at a bigger stage in the marathon. I can only imagine how much more a youth athlete can do. ”
Inspector of Police Omanyala, who recently graduated from Kiganjo Police Training College, added: “Everyone discouraged me from running short races. In fact, most of my friends wanted me to stay in rugby. But this is a dream I had and I’m still dreaming of an Olympic gold medal just like you all are.”
