The Kenya junior golf team is currently taking part in the All-Africa Junior Team Championship which teed off Tuesday and will end on 27th in Tunisia.
Kenya is fielding a team of 4 boys and 3 girls in the championship that has attracted players from 20 other countries from Africa.
The Boys’ comprises of Junaid Manji, Nathan Mwangi,Tsevi Soni and Justin Ngeera while the girls team has Belinda Wanjiru, Hazel Kuria and Audrey Gachora.
The players were selected from the provisional squad that was made up of 22 players.
Speaking while handing over the flag to the team Sports Principal Elijah Mwangi challenged the youngsters to do well at the competition
“The AAJTC presents a gilt-edged opportunity for Kenyan juniors to showcase their skills at the highest level in Africa. The Department of Sports under the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports is fully committed to supporting junior sports, and we look forward to strengthening our collaboration with the Junior Golf Foundation to grow junior golfing events in the country. This team here is ready to fly the Kenyan flag high. Looking at the journey they have travelled to be here, we are looking at winners; victors who have transcended their journeys and as they impact many other juniors who will follow in their footsteps in the years to come. You are doing a great duty for the country and we wish you the very best.”
The JGF President, Vincent Mukiri, is confident that with the intensive training by the team, the objectives will be met.
“We have strategically set out a training plan for the national provisional junior golf squad that runs all year round. We’ve also learnt from our previous experience and seek to be top in the continent. South Africa is a formidable contender, but we strongly believe that with the right training we will achieve our goals. Some of the juniors are also part of the R&A High Performance Program, which seeks to elevate the level of golf on the continent. We go to Tunisia with a plan to fly the flag of Kenya high, finish first or second, and qualify for the 2025 Toyota Junior Golf World Cup. This way, we open up more opportunities for our juniors to compete at this high level as they also seek sports and education scholarships locally, regionally and abroad.”
The team is seeking to improve on its performance at the previous edition of the championship held last year in South Africa where the girls teams was ranked 2nd while the boys team finished 4th.
Top place finish will qualify Kenya for the Junior Golf World Cup in Japan.