Kudos to AK for insistence on registration

What you need to know:

  • We have not had clear lines on who qualifies as a coach and it is now time to rectify this.
  • AK really needs to be tough on this because we need to know which coaches are in the country, what they are doing and where they are operating.
  • I am for the good of athletics and I know this is the only way we will liberate the sport from doping.

My attention has been to drawn to a recent story from Athletics Kenya (AK) asking coaches to avail themselves for vetting and registration.
If you ask me, this is a very important exercise that is long overdue.

Truth be told - we have operated poorly in the past allowing people to hover around our athletes in the pretext of coaching them.
We have not had clear lines on who qualifies as a coach and it is now time to rectify this.

Part of the reason a doping cloud hangs over the local athletics scene is some of these people who masquerade as coaches only to take shortcuts by introducing our athletes to the banned substances.

This exercise will no doubt be for the good of the athletes and we all need to accord it the seriousness it deserves.
We cannot continue talking about fighting doping when we can’t even vet the people involved with the sport like the coaches.

AK really needs to be tough on this because we need to know which coaches are in the country, what they are doing and where they are operating.

We are all aware that a Kenyan coach cannot just walk to another country and start coaching without being vetted by the concerned authorities.

As they say no pain, no gain; we will have to make sacrifices along the way for the country to regain its lost glory.

This is why the coaches who want to serve the sport in the next calendar year must register with the national governing body or risk being shown the door.

According to AK, the process targets the registration, approval and licensing of officials who want to work in the country, both local and foreign.

Interested coaches will have to present their details at the federation headquarters at Riadha House for processing.
AK have warned that they will be forced to involved other government agencies in cases where individuals do not present themselves and this, in my opinion is the way to go.

Of course, this exercise will not end there as AK intends to do the same for athletes, training camps and medical personnel.

I am for the good of athletics and I know this is the only way we will liberate the sport from doping.

Korir is the chairman of Athletics Kenya’s Nairobi branch. [email protected]