A statement from KAS Chief Executive Officer Doreen Odhiambo reads, “Kenya Academy of Sports wishes to inform all stakeholders of the rescheduling of the National Sports Talent Recruitment Exercise
The Kenya Academy of Sports (KAS) has rescheduled its National Sports Talent Recruitment exercise originally set for 17/18 November in Machakos.
A statement from KAS Chief Executive Officer Doreen Odhiambo reads, “The Kenya Academy of Sports wishes to inform all stakeholders of the rescheduling of the National Sports Talent Recruitment Exercise. This has been necessitated by the overwhelming demand by stakeholders to access selection centers.”
The Academy intends to recruit talented athletes in Basketball (male and female), Volleyball (female) , football (male), and Rugby (male).
Commenting on this noble idea Walter Machio, a sports consultant with interest in Talent nurturing and development, lauded the move saying it is a step in the right direction and urged the Academy to grow its capacity in talent identification through existing community teams and structures.
“ I understand the challenges the academy might be going through in recruiting the right talents into their programs. However mass recruitment doesn’t always give you the best products. We need to aim at identifying talents over a period. It might be best for the academy to invest into talent scouts that move around the country more often to scout the talent over time.”
“This system will help this country develop a data base of talent and assist KAS in receiving steady quality talent into the academy since it’s been positioned as the pinnacle of talent development in this country. I hope moving forward the Academy will embrace this challenge be able to invest in building capacity for existing community talent development clubs and youth centres for a proper talent identification process,” he concluded.
According to their website The Kenya Academy of Sports is State Corporation established under the Sports Act no 33 of 2013. Their mandate is to Identify, nurture and develop talent among the youths in Kenya as well as train sports technical personnel. Among their Core Functions is to Establish and manage Sports training academies, organize administrate and coordinate sports courses for technical and sports personnel, promote research and development of talent in sports in collaboration with institutions of higher learning national sports federations and other stake holders, link with other institutions and organization for regular updates on the current sports trends and perform any other function that may directly or indirectly contribute to the attainment of the foregoing.
The Academy is located at the expansive Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani where a model facility has been erected to host the various academies under their wing with accommodation, dining and administrative offices.