Young talents take big their dreams to free holiday camps in Eldoret

Girls from various schools in the North Rift region participate in Holiday Training caps at Hill School ahead of school games next year. [Peter Ochieng, Standard] The atmosphere is electric. It's a festive season and budding talents are making the best out of advanced coaching at inaugural training camps designed to shape youngsters to professional athletes. In camps around Eldoret, one would imagine that a thrilling sports event is underway. But no, they are young sports talents drawn from various disciplines for nurturing by a pool of coaches. The talents, a majority of them student athletes, were identified in school games and junior competitions. From athletics to volleyball and tennis to football, budding talents are dreaming big under close watches of tacticians, away from chunk foods and an often lazy December holiday. For those who would only have accessed quality training in their institutions of learning, just ahead of school games, the Kenya Academy (KAS) of Sports holiday camps is offering an opportunity for them to quench the thirst for technical preparations ahead of reopening of learning centres in January. The programme made 2024 the year that the Ministry of Sports augmented training through KAS. Other talents just finished form four and making it in sports is their loftiest dream. Students from various schools in the North Rift region participate in Holiday Training caps at Hill School ahead of school games next year. [Peter Ochieng, Standard] Holiday training regimes, which started in the 1970s in centres such as St Patrick's have produced a number of Kenya's track and road beasts among them 800m World Record holder David Rudisha, Mathew Birir (3000m Steeplechase Olympic gold medallist), Peter Rono (Olympic gold medallist), Wilson Boit Kipketer (Former 3,000m Steeplechase record holder), Ibrahim Hussein (three-time Boston Marathon winner) and Sally Barsosio (former World Champion). Coaches under the KAS residential camps say the programme is taking training and talent identification and nurturing back to where it all began and improving it with modern coaching. At the academy's athletics camp at Hill School Eldoret, talents as young as 13 years are getting accustomed to regimental training that have always been undertaken in centres run by top sports managements across Iten, Kaptagat, Kericho and Kapsabet among other bases. Unlike the fewer numbers accommodated in elite training camps, the KAS sponsored camps attracted bigger numbers for their two-week training sessions. At Hill School for instance, 150 athletes, half of them girls and the other half boys were trained by World Athletics Level Three sprints coach Andrew Maritim. Maritim's assignment was precise; to produce the next generation of sprinters as well as middle distance athletes from the budding talents. "At the camp, we give them adaptive training programmes because they are still young. We did the training and they adapted to the regime," Maritim told Standard Sports during a training session. He goes on to say: "The young athletes are at different levels and we have identified those who can get qualifications to take part in national trials in the near future. We have spotted talents in sprints, middle distance and field events such as triple jump." Students from various schools in the North Rift region participate in Holiday Training caps at Hill School a head of school games next year. [Peter Ochieng, Standard] The KAS athletics camp ran tight schedules that included 5.30am morning runs for body fitness as well as day-long sessions that always kicked off at 8.30am with breaks in between. According to Maritim, KAS used school games results and scouting by technical teams to identify athletes for the residential holiday camp in Eldoret. On one side of the Hill School sports grounds, former Kenyan international Fred Serenge is producing a junior women's football squad from talents from the vast Rift Valley region. Serenge, who is the father of Junior Starlets utility player Marion Serenge, is imparting four pillars - physical fitness, technical and tactical skills as well as mental preparedness in a squad of girls with huge ambitions of playing for the country's junior team and later for the Harambee Starlets. He is training 82 girls at the holiday training centre. The tactician had taken Kenya's Under-17 girls team to the International School Sports Federation (ISF) World Cup where the country ended their debut with second place after a 6-4 loss to hosts China. "We had assembled the Kenyan team to the ISF World Cup from a pool of players made by KAS. We had a number of challenges which are being addressed one step at a time," says Serenge. He adds: "While we mentor the girls, we impart in them life skills. We have 82 girls and we have to select a team that will play with those being trained in other regions." "There is a need to ensure that we develop international standards. We picked crucial lessons at the 2024 ISF World Cup. In China, all the 58 participating teams were hosted in only one academy because the country has invested heavily on facilities. We learnt that it has 28 academies of that size and status. We will need sacrifice and planning." Two girls from Andersen Secondary in Trans Nzoia are among those in camp and their dream is playing for the national team and international clubs. Caren Wakoli, who has just turned 20 after finishing form four, says she has built the right endurance at the training camp under Serenge's tactical approaches. "Despite the short period of training, I have acquired crucial skills. My passes and shooting power have greatly improved. I yearn for a match against the national team. I feel we will beat them," Wakoli says. Her schoolmate at Andersen Saida Akinyi says the coaching was top-notch. "My endurance and ball work are top after the two weeks. I'm looking forward to more training sessions when another opportunity arises. I hope to play for the national team Harambee Starlets." Coach Fred Serenge (centre) training students from various schools in the North Rift region at Hill School ahead of school games next year. [Peter Ochieng, Standard] Patricia Chemtai, who took Kesogon Girls, the national Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association volleyball champions to the East African school games, is further nurturing her skills. The middle blocker has already been approached by Kenya Prisons volleyball club and can't wait to play at the Kenya Volleyball Federation League soon. She has just completed high school and is ready to prove to volleyball clubs that was ready to play. "The training at the KAS centre in Eldoret is preparing me for the senior categories. I have used the opportunity to perfect my blocking and reaction. I appreciate that I was spotted when representing Kesegon Girls from West Pokot," says Chemtai. She is trained at the holiday camp by Boaz Okello, a teacher at Gogo secondary school in Homa Bay. At the basketball court, Elizabeth Marube, a 16-year-old student from St Joseph's Girls literally stood tall. Her tall figure, with swift dribbling skills to boot endeared her to basketball at St Joseph's Girls and she hopes to play at the national and international arena. Marube is inspired by A'ja Wilson, a professional American player of the Las Vegas Aces. "I only started playing football in high school. Before then, I was a fan who loved watching A'ja Wilson. I want to play like her, and that's why I am training hard. "I like everything at the residential holiday camp; from the environment to the food. We are served fresh vegetables, fruits and meat which we take with ugali. I will miss a holiday residential training," Marube, who also took St Joseph's girls basketball team to the East African Games, says. She is coached by Shem Otieno who believes that the camps would make it easy to identify a national basketball team. Tennis is stealing the show at another holiday camp in Moi Girls Eldoret. The 2019 East Africa champions St Joseph's Boys Kitale, which have dominated table tennis at the national stage for the last decade, are dominant at the Moi Girls camp. St Joseph's Boys 'big six' who have represented the school at the East African school games for the last two to four years are displaying their mettle as they train alongside other Rift Valley stars and Moi Girls multipurpose hall. Table tenis students from various schools in the North Rift region train at Hill School ahead of school games next year. [Peter Ochieng, Standard] They are Victor Ng'ang'a the experienced figure who has competed at the East African stage for the last four years, which is the entire high school life, Emmanuel Wanjala and Ezra Kwemoi who has been at that level three times. Two-time East African table tennis players Stefano Odhiambo, Trimonds Otieno and John Chen Mwangi and also training in Moi Girls as they prepare for the 2025 school competitions. "My team at the camp has the best table tennis national player of the year and it feels good to have Kenya one (Victor Ng'ang'a) who is transitioning to competitions outside secondary school games," Wanjala, the St Joseph's Boys Table Tennis captain, says. Luckily, in Moi Girls, they are trained by their school coach Austin Musumba. "The boys are in school thanks to scholarships because they are from humble backgrounds. They are now in a free camp and they are maximizing the opportunity," says Musumba.

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