Young Lionesses intensify preparations ahead of Youth Commonwealth Games

Among the teams expected to battle hard in the seventh edition of the Youth Commonwealth Games set to be held in Trinidad and Tobago between 4 and 11 August will be the Kenya girl’s rugby team.

And in a bid to get their preparations well underway, the team, led by head coach Sarah Agolla Otieno, reported to training camp at the Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani on Tuesday, and were down to business on Wednesday morning.

The 18 players in camp will for ten days engage in serious preparations for the championships that will see them face some of the toughest opponents including; Canada, Fiji and Australia.

And having returned to camp for the first time since April, Agolla - who also rounds up as the rugby development officer at Kenya Rugby Union - will have to stick to a plan she knows best, and one that the girls have been working on while in school.

“When we broke camp in April, they (players) had a lesson plan that they needed to go work out on. So when they came in, my work is to make sure that whatever it is that they were given they were able to execute,” Agolla told NOC-K Media on Wednesday.

With players coming from different parts of the country, Wednesday morning events, apart from holding a blow out and skills session assessment, was used to look at the checks and balances of the to-do list from passing, ball reception and runs.

Athletes troop to Kasarani for Youth Commonwealth Games preparation

“When I say role play, we will do the kick offs, the scrums, line outs, formations and patterns,” Agolla said of her approach for the players to grasp and understand the drills.

“As time goes by we will work on defense patterns for players to understand what they need to do,” she added - mentioning that her sessions would be short, sharp and sweet to cope with their opponents. “You are at the 5m line, how are you defending this ball? If you are counter attacking, then how do you counter attack? It is a lot of learning towards the end.”

In the coming days, it is expected that five of the 18 players in camp will be dropped, before the team departs for Trinidad and Tobago.