Prepare to host World Youth Championships

As the mist clears following Kenya’s winning bid to host the 2017 World Youth Championships, the reality of what it portends and what ought to be done within the next two years quickly set in.

With Kenya having won the World Youth Championships twice in 1999 (Poland) and 2007 (Italy), pressure will be on the country to reclaim the overall title from USA and not allow giants Jamaica, Germany, Russia, China and England sneak in at the top.

Past competition of international status, which Kenya has staged has proved irregular and inappropriate conduct not to mention laxity and lack of commitment by the officials in charge of the events.

Up to today, questions are still lingering about the expenditure during the 2007 World Cross Country in Mombasa and the 2010 Senior Africa Athletics Championships. The bidding team must quickly plan on how to widen its membership to accommodate varied stakeholders, who must work very hard to make the competition a success.

The committee must appoint people of authority and knowledge to serve in the Local Organising Committee and line committees that include media, marketing, protocal, security, hospitality or any other committee to boost the profile of the competition.

Athletics Kenya (AK), which secured the bid, must also realise that, though the government and stakeholders will pump in money for the competition, it is their brainchild and must put aside their wrangles to work for the common goal, which is hosting a successful World Youth Championships, with or without their chairman Isaiah Kiplagat and other current holders of offices at Riadha House. AK must, in the same vein, not sweep under the carpet issues that have created a serious rift in its executive committee and branches countrywide.

The World Youth Championships is now a Kenyan affair, not just AK, and it would be foolhardy for a section to start thumping their chests just because of the successful bid.

AK will need to start training coaches, umpires and judges to oversee the championships. We also need to be above board in doping matters, which has blighted our reputation lately and ensure we hold a ‘clean’ competition.

The event’s officials must also visit other cities, which have staged the competition before to share experiences and learn the challenges ahead for them and what best way to deliver on the same.

AK also needs to work with the Ministry of Education to make sure that we get a formidable team, especially in events that the country has not been performing well in. These are sprints and field events. This brings in the subject of equipment.

The World Youth Championships is an elementary competition under the IAAF flagship, which targets athletes between the ages of 15-17. It means that because they are still young and growing, they will require special equipment for the competition. Unlike in 2010, when the organising committee made a last minute decision to buy the required equipment, this has to be done early enough so that these crop of emerging athletes can practice with them to get experience.

This will help as they will know how to use them during the competition proper. The current equipment in the country are not in perfect condition while others are not of the standard required for a youth competition.

With Nyayo National Stadium and Safaricom Sports Centre, Kasarani, the most likely venues for the competition, SSMB and AK must make access to the facility easier and encourage younger athletes from schools to utilise them. Special competitions in the athletics calender must also be made to serve this group of athletes, too.

For now, it is important for all stakeholders and other interested groups to be allowed to put on the table their opinion and discuss the best plans to implement the bid committee’s idea, which won the hearts of IAAF officials to secure the competition.

This is an opportunity Kenya must take up and restore her pride as a competitive sporting nation.