National boxing team head coach Benjamin Musa has asked the current crop of Hit Squad pugilists to shape up or ship out.
In a candid interview on Sunday, the gaffer expressed his desire to facilitate a seamless changeover within the squad by paving the way for more youthful and energetic fighters to succeed their experienced colleagues.
"We are keenly keeping tabs on the progress of our national team players in the local league and weighing their form against that of the budding boxers," Musa remarked.
"If you do not perform well in the league then this raises a lot of question marks about your ability to represent the country on the international stage."
Musa praised young talents who have shown remarkable promise on the domestic scene, predicting that they will soon lead the nation to previously unheard-of heights.
"We have already identified some upcoming boxers who have impressed us with an amazing display of skills in the first and second legs of the Boxing Federation of Kenya National League that were held in Vihiga and Siaya respectively," Musa said.
"So far we already have a couple of boxers on our radar including light welter Aloice Vincent of Kenya Police and Kevin Maina of Kenya Defence Forces."
"The next leg will be held in Nakuru, beginning on Thursday and we hope to identify more boxers who have what it takes to wear the national team colors," added Musa.
Meanwhile, Musa has bemoaned the lack of competitiveness among Kenyan women boxers.
"We are having trouble noticing any promising female boxers in the local league, save for flyweight Emily Juma of Nairobi-based Boxgirls and featherweight Angela Otieno who plays for Nairobi county," observed Musa.
He said plans are afoot to assemble a provisional squad before the long holiday break to begin preparing for the new season.
"We shall be having a congested fixture in the coming year and so we plan to take a short break over the festive season and resume preparations immediately," Musa remarked.
"We are currently waiting for the organisers of the East Africa Games to announce the dates for this year's tournament.
The event was set to start on November 20 but there are indications this could be postponed to January next year due to logistic hitches.
"There will also be the Mandela Cup in January, and then the World Qualifiers ! in Italy between January and February," said Musa. "We will then have the World Qualifiers 2 in May in Thailand."
