Athletics Kenya reveals three reasons for historic training of 44 female coaches
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Reading Time: 3min | Thu. 06.11.25. | 15:42
Speaking during the graduation, AK President Jack Tuwei outlined three main reasons that inspired the initiative
Athletics Kenya (AK) has shed light on the motivation behind training 44 women who recently earned their World Athletics Level One Coaching Certificates, the first such group in the country’s history.
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The milestone, achieved in October, marks a crucial step in the federation’s efforts to empower women and enhance athlete welfare across the athletics ecosystem.
Before attending the in-person training, the participants underwent a mandatory three-day online course to build their foundational knowledge.
They were later taken through comprehensive theoretical and practical sessions covering all track and field events, equipping them with modern coaching skills and technical expertise.
Speaking during the graduation, AK President Jack Tuwei outlined three main reasons that inspired the initiative: safeguarding young female athletes, addressing gender-based violence (GBV), and combating age cheating in athletics.
“We trained 44 female coaches for the first time in the history of this country. The reason why we trained these coaches is one: to make sure our girls are well taken care of, particularly the girls who came from school, because we have seen a few things which are not right.
We want the female coaches to take care of that and ensure the girls are comfortable, train well, and have no embarrassment in camps,” Tuwei said.
Tuwei emphasised that having more women in coaching roles will provide young athletes with mentors they can easily relate to and confide in, creating a safer and more supportive environment within training camps.
The AK boss also linked the program to efforts to curb gender-based violence, an issue that continues to haunt the athletics scene.
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“You are aware we have had GBV challenges, and I am sure these coaches will help us take care of that and identify where the problem is because we have been affected by this issue,” he said.
Gender-based violence has been a growing concern in Kenyan athletics, with studies showing that up to 69 per cent of athletes have either experienced or witnessed some form of abuse, ranging from verbal and emotional to sexual violence.
Often, such cases involve individuals in positions of power, such as coaches, partners, or team officials.
Through this initiative, AK hopes that more women in technical positions will help break the culture of silence and promote transparency, accountability, and education around GBV.
Tuwei further noted that the training aims to address another long-standing issue in the sport: age cheating.
“The third point is that we are having a problem with age cheating, which starts at a very early age. You know the documents we use are not ours as Athletics Kenya.
These are government documents we are using: ID, passport, birth certificate, etc. If you have documents that do not tally, then someone is cheating somewhere,” he explained.
He appealed to the Ministry of Education and teachers to partner with Athletics Kenya in verifying athletes’ details from the grassroots level to eliminate the vice.
“We want to ask people in the Ministry of Education, particularly teachers, that let us work together so we do not get to this problem,” he added.
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