One of the most exciting and entertaining races in Kenya took place in 2018.
The spectators were thrilled as they watched Mary Moraa put off a challenge of two male competitors in the 4×400 metres mixed relay and take Kenya to the finals.
This was in the 2017 World Athletics Under-18 Championships at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, where Brazil and Jamaica had strategically entered their male competitors to run the final stretch of the relay competition.
Moraa was again at it when she won gold in women’s 800m race in 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. She produced the same burst of energy in the final lap to comfortably win the event.
Moraa posting excellent results from the World Athletics Under-18 Championship to the Commonwealth Games is a masterpiece in transition from junior to senior level.
Transition points in Kenya pose the biggest challenge to maintaining top level sports people. The number of athletes we lose in the transition from junior level to senior level is high.
Successful youth development takes place in very few sporting disciplines.
International exposure at youth level is crucial in all sporting disciplines. It is therefore no surprise that we are still reliant on few sporting disciplines to get us top level performance in the international arena. As long as our youth level development is limping, our future will always be bleak. We must maintain depth in sports.
This year, we have an opportunity to rewrite the narrative. We have a number of multi-sport international youth events.
There is Association of National Olympics Committees (ANOCA) Zone Five Games scheduled for Ethiopia in July, Youth Commonwealth Games in Trinidad Tobago in August, and the 2023 African Youth Games at a yet-to-be-confirmed venues. In addition, we have federations youth competitions coming up this year.
There are some missed youth competitions this year so far. Chess team is latest to miss out on travel to the World Championship due to lack of funding. That one miss of a golden opportunity translates to huge gaps at the senior level. It is crucial that we invest resources in these youth events. They greatly impact our performance at the senior level.
The National Olympic Committee is leading from the front in this initiative. Since 2018 we have run multi sports Youth Camps. The camps are still on and we have another this end of April to May.
The long-term objective is to develop youngsters in complimenting what the Federations are doing. It is further to ensure Federations run Youth Development Programs to provide strong teams in future Commonwealth and Olympics Games.
The short-term objective is to prepare youngsters for the upcoming youth events all the way to Dakar 2026 Youth Olympics.
Just like education which runs through primary to secondary school and ultimately to specialized degree courses, athlete development should take the same route.
It takes time and resources within a developed system, and we can do it.
Mutuku is the Secretary General at the National Olympic Committee of Kenya.
