NAIROBI, Kenya, August 7 – National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOCK) president Paul Tergat has tipped women’s rugby in Kenya to grow in leaps and bounds in the coming years due to the abundance of young talent.
Tergat was on hand to witness the girls’ team kick off their Commonwealth Youth Games campaign on Sunday afternoon with a 20-12 win over Wales at the ongoing tournament in Trinidad and Tobago.
He said the performance of the youngsters is evidence that there is more where that came from in terms of talent in Kenya.
“I am happy to be able to see the girls doing very well and we are very excited. This is the future…they are young and they have done very well. It is their first time out of the country and I believe that (this group) are part of the big future that we have as a country,” Tergat said.
He added: “When we see the performances of the girls’ Sevens team, it shows that we are diversifying. They have played really well…and I think they have one more game to go today but we can see that there is a lot of potential there.”
The girls had began their campaign on a poor note, going down 38-5 to Fiji in their Pool A match at the Shaw Park Field.
They were, however, rampant against their European opponents, taking a 15-0 lead halftime courtesy of a try from Laura Otieno and two more from Jackline and Linda Kagwiria respectively.
The Welsh replied via a brace from Seren Lockwood Linda and Jackline scored once again on either side of an Ann Namunyak try.
Katie Bevans pulled one back but there was more to come from Kenya as Mitchelle Alivitsa drove the final nail in with a last-gasp try.
Tergat, a five-time World Cross Country champion, encouraged young talents across the country to believe in themselves and remain disciplined if they are to realise their potential.
“They have to believe in themselves. I was trying to encourage them that they are representing the country at a bigger stage and have a bigger opportunity to go into the senior level. They must have the discipline and the perseverance if they want to develop their talents moving forward,” he said.
Kenya next play the hosts before rounding up their group campaign against Australia.
The seventh edition of the youth games features hundreds of athletes aged 14-18 years from 71 Commonwealth countries, who will be battling each other in nine disciplines including netball, athletics and para-athletics, beach volleyball, cycling (road), cycling (track), rugby sevens, swimming and triathlon.
