The Iuani World Under 20 athletics training camp is seeking to have representation in the various international championships scheduled for this year.
Head coach Peter Muteti said they are, in addition to preparing athletes for the World U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia in July, working hard to ensure those who do not make the cut have an opportunity to feature in the rest of the events.
Apart from Cali, there will be the Africa Youth Games in Cairo between August 26 and September 6 as well as the East Africa Junior Athletics Championships in Dar es Salaam next month.
Muteti said Iuani is home to 50 athletes (32 boys and 18 girls), all of whom are itching to represent the country at some stage this year.
“Our major job at the moment is to help them attain the qualification standards for the various events,” said Muteti.
“Of course, our foucs is on Cali but all of us cannot make it there. And if we miss Cali, why not fall on either of the two other competitions?
He observed that the continued support to the camp by the Ministry of Sports, through Athletics Kenya, has ensured that some of the challenges they faced, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, are currently manageable.
“Some of these athletes didn’t know of their potential but once here, they are able to express themselves and with our guidance, manage to focus on training,” said Muteti.
“It was a perfect decision to keep the camp up and running even after ease of Covid-19 restrictions and so far we can feel the impact,” said Muteti at Iuan AIC Secondary School, Makueni, where junior runners drawn from Makueni, Machakos, Kitui and kajiado are honing their skills since the beginning of the month.
Muteti said there is hope especially after some of their runners continue to participate in various local championships.
Nelson Mandela, Dennis Mutuku, Justus Muasya and Elestina Soitala participated in the Agnes Tirop Memorial Cross Country in Eldoret in February.
