Ngisirei upbeat 50 days to U20 championships
Kenya national youth head coach Robert Ngisirei is expecting explosive matchups when the country stages national trials for the World Athletics Under-20 Championships planned for July 1-3.
Ngisirei is adamant whoever makes through the bruising Kenyan trials is a huge medal prospect as the country eyes to select a strong team for the biennial age group showpiece penciled for August 17-22 in Nairobi.
“Today we are counting 50 days to the world under 20 event. We are all very excited because the junior events have been the main source of unearthing new talent and therefore I am expecting the trend to continue during the trials as well as when the country hosts the global event in August,” Ngisirei reiterated the importance of the youth department as the conveyor belt to the senior teams.
The former Kenya Prisons warden-turned-teacher says the juniors are fearless.
“I am certain that the team we will select on Saturday will bring more medals to the country than the initial team that was disbanded after most of them became ineligible after the postponement of the event last year due to covid-19 pandemic,” assessed Ngisirei.
“Having worked with the juniors for many years, their biggest attribute is that they are fearless and explosive. They don’t have a playbook, they simply want to explore.
That is why I will expect an exciting three day national trials,” added the coach who is based in Singilet Primary School in Nandi County.
Ngisirei’s first outing as Team Kenya head coach was at the World Youth Championships in Australia in 1996 where Kenya finished second in the overall standings.
After working closely with AK Youth Committee chairman Barnaba Korir to set up training camps across the country, he is confident many athletes have been identified from the grassroots.
“Coming from a situation where we had to replace our junior stars who had surpassed the age limit, identification of new athletes who will represent us in August was not an easy job,”adds the tactician who has worked with big names including world marathon record holder Brigid Kosgei, former world cross country winner Irene Cheptai, Agnes Tirop and former Africa 5,000m champion Margaret Chelimo, among others.
