The Nakuru County government has spent over Sh 20 million to purchase sports equipment and attires to nurture the talented youth to improve their skills and continue participating at the global stage.
The County Director for Sports Mrs Alice Gekonde said the county was overflowing with talented youth in various categories and they want to ensure that they get all the required assistance so as to thrive and compete with other champions.
She gave an example of Kuresoi Sub-county which has produced renowned athletes such as Faith Chepngetich, an Olympic Medalist, Amos Kirui the national cross country champion and former world marathon champion Geoffrey Kirui.
Also, she said the Boxing club has produced some of the best pugilists in Kenya’s boxing history. They comprise of the 1972 Munich Olympics welterweight silver medalist Philip Waruinge and former Commonwealth Professional flyweight Steve Muchoki.
Gekonde said with such a rich history of sports achievements, the county would like to maximize on the young talents to include games among the other tourist attractions.
Interviewed by KNA she said Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui promised the residents that his administration would promote sports and nurture talented men and women, to the world stage.
Besides, she said watching and playing sports provides good relief from stresses of daily lives and binds communities together. “Again, it has the capacity of influencing a people’s enhanced understanding of gender roles, when women athletes like Faith Chepngetich becomes celebrated national heroines,” she added.
Apart from that, the director said sports teach punctuality, patience, discipline, dedication and teamwork, and above all, it improves people’s health and saves the country the unnecessary huge medical budgets.
By Veronica Bosibori
