NOC-K is planning to send players to the 1st ANOCA Zone V Genocide memorial Youth Games in Kigali, Rwanda from 2nd to 6th April 2019.
This is an opportunity for NOC-K to take advantage of all playing prospects to enable athletes participate in as many competitions as possible.
The event will be held over 5 days, in 5 sports codes and 39 medal events. All the 11 Zone 5 countries are expected to participate. The countries are Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, Eritrea, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, Egypt.
The disciplines included in the Games are athletics, Basketball, Volleyball, Cycling, Taekwondo in 39 medal events. The targeted players will be 16 to 18 years old.
The Chef-de-Mission will be Hellen Obiri, who is currently the Women Athletes representative in NOC-K. Hellen is a world class athlete, the current 5,000 metres champions and gold medalist from the World Championship in 2018. She also won a silver medal in the Summer Olympics 2016.
NOC-K is committed to giving opportunities for growth and exposure for top athletes, to transition them in administration and management in the country.
In addition, from the experience of Humphrey Khayange in Africa Youth Games, it was recognized that he was able to inspire the youth by providing a touch that only an international champion can.
The Association of National Olympic Committees for Africa (ANOCA)’s Zone V ( ANOCA V) in conjunction with the Rwanda National Olympic and Sports Committee, and the Government of Rwanda in the spirit of Olympism and the power of sports to reconstruct the country from the genocide ideology.
The goal of Olympism is to place Sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.
Since the genocide resulted from an ideology of ethnic hatred, the Rwandan government began to strive to reconstruct the nation. In light of this, sports was viewed as a powerful tool that could help to foster unit and reconciliation among Rwandans. Sport brings people together to interact, play and engage in conversations that build social harmony, impacts on social development, economic sustainability, empowers people and inculcates shared goals. Sports fight inequalities.
Based on these powers of sport, the Rwanda National Olympic and Sports Committee (RNOSC), in collaboration with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) Zone V and the Ministry of Sports and Culture (MINISPOC) are organizing these games to spread the Olympism values of friendship, respect, excellence and humanism to the entire Zone 5 communities by organising every two years, a regional youth games under the theme of the genocide ideology eradication.
NOCK plans to send players in all categories of the disciplines and will work with the respective federations which will be a great opportunity to inculcate to our youth the values of Olympism.