Federations urged to embrace inclusivity in the Commonwealth Games trials

The National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) has implored federations to fully embrace inclusivity in the trials and preparations for the Commonwealth Games set to be held between July 28 to August 8 in Birmingham.

NOC-K's Executive Committee in a meeting with representatives from the federations on Friday stressed on the significance of employing the right criteria in selecting athletes, coaches and managers for the Games and at the same time, called on proper publication of the criteria and sufficient notice for the trials.

So far, two male teams; the National Rugby Sevens Team and the Basketball 3x3 have sealed qualification for the Games. The women's Basketball 3x3 has also qualified while individual sports will qualify through open quota allocation according to the quota given by Commonwealth Games Federation.

Based on previous games experience, the Committee urged the federations to ensure athletes from the grassroots are given fair chance in the trials and ensure the communication for these events has been well publicized to give all Kenyans who qualify an opportunity to be in the team.

Meanwhile, having agreed on adopting declarations and commitments during the Agnes Tirop Conference to guide reforms in the sports sector, NOC-K asked Federations to ensure gender balance in appointing officials, with NOC-K already doing the same in athletes quota distribution.  

In the interest of inclusivity, NOC-K said, the federations with Para sports will be integrated in their programs as they prepare towards the games set for the Games The Para sports in Birmingham will be Para Athletics, Wheelchair Basketball 3x3, Para Cycling, Para Lawn Bowls, Para Powerlifting, Para Swimming, Para Triathlon and Para Table Tennis.

The federations also gave a status on qualification of which they are all on track. Most sports are planning for their national trials and qualification events in February and March.

The individual sport in the Birmingham sports program are: Aquatics, Athletics, Boxing, Cycling, Gymnastics, Judo, Lawn Bowls, Squash, Triathlon, Wrestling, Table Tennis, Weightlifting. While Team sports are: Basketball 3x3, Beach Volleyball, Cricket T20- women, Hockey, Netball-women, Rugby Sevens men, Rugby Sevens women and Table Tennis Teams.

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