Boxing Federation of Kenya have assigned two more coaches to help sharpen the 16-member Hit Squad ahead of the the Africa Zone 3 Championship in Democratic Republic of Congo.
The two, Hassan Salim of Kibera Club and Maurice Maina of Kenya Prisons have already linked up with the squad at their training camp in Lavington, Nairobi.
They join the existing technical bench comprising head coach Musa Benjamin, assistant Dave Munuhe, Patrick Waweru and strength and conditioning coach Geoffrey Kimani to complete the coaching unit.
BFK communications director, Duncan Kuria, explained the importance of having more coaches in the squad. “The normal practice at the national team is that when the number of boxers exceed eight, then there should be at least six coaches for effective preparations,” said Kuria.
The tourney set for March 20 and 27 was originally organised with the intention of helping teams qualify for Tokyo 2020.
The boxers have been in camp since late last year after the government allowed national teams to prepare for international assignments following months of inactivity due to Covid-19 outbreak.
The squad had initially hoped to attain more slots in the Olympics at the world repechage qualifiers in France but the event was called off after the Tokyo Olympics organising committee admitted it was pressed for time to accommodate any further qualifiers.
Already, two Kenyan pugilists lightweight Nick Okoth and his female colleague in the same weight, Christine Ongare have each booked themselves a berth at the Tokyo games.
BFK president Anthony Ombok says they’ll use the DRC tournament to gauge the team’s preparedness for Tokyo Games .
“This tournament is crucial because we haven’t been in the ring since the qualifiers due to the Covid-19 pandemic and I can’t emphasise enough how important it is for boxers to be engaged in a competitive environment as part of preparations for the Olympic games,” said Ombok.
