A past judo championship. [Photo/Sportspesanews.co.ke]
Kenya Judo Association (KJA) will host the East and Central Africa Cadets Championships in Nairobi next week.
Twelve countries have confirmed their participation in the event that starts on November 30 to December 4 at Kasarani with Kenya expected to present 51 judokas.
KJA sports director Joseph Momanyi made the announcement as he elucidated the progress the association has made in the recent past. Separately, KJA chairman Shadrack Maluki announced that the government has offered wide-ranging sponsorship in a year that several referees have been supported in training in the country and abroad through the International Judo Federation (IJF).
“IJF has donated three mats for the coming regional championships in Nairobi. I thank the government of Kenya as well for the waivers of tax that they have offered us. In real terms, the government through the ministry of sport has supported us in various ways more than ever before.
“In the last year, we have taken part in the various tournament in the country and abroad. We have had participants at the world championships, the African championships in Madagascar and the number of trained coaches, referees and managers have increased three times,” said Maluki, the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) deputy president. In the last one year, Kenya has had eight Class A referees, eight Class C referees, and two Class B referees. For over two decades, there was only one IJF referee in the country.