National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) president Shadrack Maluki says the Anoca Zone V Youth Games have provided Kenya with a crucial platform to prepare a strong team for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.
Maluki said the four-day competition offered young athletes valuable exposure while giving technical teams an opportunity to assess talent ahead of the Youth Olympics, scheduled for October 31 to November 13.
“Anoca is very important for us in preparation for Dakar. We have achieved a lot in terms of organisation, athletes’ exposure and the technical team’s preparation. It is going to play a very huge role in the Olympics,” Maluki said.
He said Nock is keen to move away from relying on a few traditional medal-winning disciplines and develop talent across a wider range of sports.
“We’ve been dependent on very few disciplines to bring medals home. But as you have seen, we are exposing all disciplines through these youth programmes,” he said.
Experience gained at the Zone V Games has given the youngsters a psychological boost ahead of Dakar, with their performances motivating them to continue training.
“Zone V tournament adds significant value to our youths in terms of preparing them physically and mentally because these are youngsters. We haven’t lost much here, so it has motivated the teams,” he said.
With the Youth Olympics only two months away, Maluki said NOCK would seek to keep most of the athletes in camp to maintain their momentum.
“Majority of the athletes who participated in the Anoca Zone V Games are the ones that will represent us in Dakar because the Youth Olympics are a month away and we need to take the best to Dakar. Those we brought here are the best,” he said.
He also promised to address concerns over the congested competition calendar after some Kenyan athletes competed at both the Zone V Games and the FEASSA School Games in Morogoro, Tanzania.
“We will engage the leadership to ensure our athletes are not exhausted. We should not have international events lining back to back because athletes are our responsibility. We should not be subjecting our athletes to strenuous activities back to back because it is killing the sport,” he said.
Former NOCK president Paul Tergat hopes for increased competition opportunities for young athletes, saying Kenya and Africa have abundant talent that remains untapped.
“We have huge talents and the only problem is that we don’t have exposure programmes even across the continent. That is why we are pushing to create more opportunities for these athletes to grow their talent,” Tergat said.
He said the Zone V Games showed that sports such as beach volleyball could develop beyond traditional strongholds such as the coast.
“It now shows that the sport can develop in all areas across the country,” Tergat said.
