Shujaa, Lionesses land IOC Schlolarships ahead of journey towards 2028 LA Olympics
.jpg)
Reading Time: 2min | Sat. 10.01.26. | 12:27
They become the second and third recipients of the grant, after Kenya's women's national hockey team - Blades
Kenya men's and women's national rugby teams - Shujaa and Lionesses - became the latest set of sides to receive International Olympic Committee (IOC) Scholarships, all in preparation for their journies towards the 2028 Los Angeles (LA) Olympic Games.
Follow our WhatsApp channel for more news
The two teams received the major boost from the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K), who announced that either side will benefit from a package worth USD 50,000 (Ksh6,462,500), which is set to run from January 2026, all through the entire Olympic cycle that comes to a close in August 2028.
The scholarship, issued under the Olympic solidarity ‘LA 2028 Scholarship” Programme, is designed to support athletes and teams with strong potential to qualify for the 2028 Olympics.
Kenya Sevens will in 2028 hope to make it four Olympics Games appearances on the bounce, having graced the 2016, 2020 and 2024 editions.
In 2016, Shujaa finished without a pool-stage victory in 11th, and a similar feat was repeated in Tokyo and Paris, as the side finished ninth.
Lionesses, on the other hand, missed out on a chance to represent the country at the Paris 2024 Games, after suffering a heartbreaking 24-7 loss to China in the repechage in Monaco.
©NOC-K MediaThe boost comes at a time when Lionesses have been showing significant improvement, and last year gained promotion to the HSBC SVNS Series Division II after edging out South Africa 17-14 in a high-stakes final encounter.
Both teams, which follow the Kenya women’s national hockey team - Blades - in landing the scholarship, are readying themselves up for a busy year, which will see them take part in the second tier of the HSBC SVNS tournament beginning on home soil next month.
Shujaa, in preparation for the 14-15 February leg at Nyayo Stadium, are set to depart for a high-perfromance training cam in South Africa on Monday, 12 January, with a return slated for Sunday, 18 January.
The camp, as per KRU Director of Rugby, Paul Odera is part of a broader high-performance pathway aimed at ensuring Shujaa are competitively ready for the demanding Division 2 series, which will also see the women's team participate.
We joined @KenyaSevens training this morning as they prepare to depart next week for a training camp in South Africa where they play against @Springboks and other clubs.
— TeamKenya (@OlympicsKe) January 8, 2026
But! We didn’t come empty handed.🤗
We came with a special surprise!#TeamKenya pic.twitter.com/zDncP66owf
Also this week, NOC-K unveiled its first set of athletes to benefit from the Individual Athlete Scholarship Programme, key among them being tennis star Angella Okutoyi, fencer Alexandra Ndolo, and air-rifle shooter Priscilla Mburu Wangui.
