The method used for athletics selection - trials - is biased in favour of the Military, Police, Prisons etc. "Raia" are totally shafted!!!

Do we have a STRUCTURED way in which a fisherman in Kisumu, a hawker in Nairobi, a small scale farmer in Murang'a, a squater, an IDP, a school leaver, a domestic engineer etc. can participate in the trials?

I propose a change in the selection approach so that ALL Kenyans have an equal chance (as practically as possible) of selections.

One approach would be to start selection at county level. Individuals can sponsor themselves to the county competitions. The county should then [have to] sponsors those who qualify at county level [say top 3] to the other levels of the competition culminating in National trials. The police, military, prisons etc. can also have the internal trials and be accommodated as special counties. The whole process should take like a year - not the last minute trials we are treated to. Because accomplished athletes have to compete outside the country also, they can be given 'golden tickets' to join the competition at quarter finals or semi finals depending on the best times the previous year. To keep corruption at bay there should be clear guidelines on how one qualifies for the 'golden tickets' and when and how the 'golden tickets' are given.

This is just one of the many approaches that can be used. All I want to see is a situation whereby, if my mechanic, my boss, my accountant, your lawyer, your domestic engineer or your pastor feels they can represent Kenya in a certain event, there is a straight forward, unbiased process they can get into. What's more, we can make this selection an event to look forward to in itself - just like we can't wait for the EPL and other leagues to start and we almost forget that they are 'feeders' to another competition - the Champions league. Even teams that will never qualify for the Champions League still look forward to the start of the season for their own reasons!

what the forces(police,prisons,military)do is talent sporting.Most of these athletes are recruited totally on the basis of sports.scouts are sent to secondary school competitions and ussually those identified are given jobs as well as training facilities.For your info the forces have well established sports departments.I can assure you that if this was not the case......with our corruption,petty politics and whinning...,we wouldnt have had so many world class athletes.we should start by congratulating the forces for their efforts and standards in sports especially athletics.However I think the govt/private sector/all others with interest in sports should look for ways of investing in sports facilities so that they are available for all .Halafu wakenya waache kulalamika kila wakati...with 11 medals we are a force to reckon!!

The Kemyan problem is beyond the selection process, it's about team management, I mean we can't complain when we present the team with the best times in our special races!!!

..We seem to have a longway when it comes to planning/implementing strategies in some of these key events. I think for me even the guys from the discipline forces lack serious talent they are helped by and large by (geniology,climate) and other variant factors hence the all too often our athletes - save for Rudisha lacked the stamina/kick in the home stretch and these is where real talent comes in, so it's no longer the guy who comes in first after 25 laps but what else does he has in his armour should come into play and like some-one has said am sure we have the calibre amongst us.

However after the selection, it seems AK is ran like an Ol boy's club and there a lot of favours to be asked/given and we will never see true talent amongst our ranks - The management indeed reserves the right of admission and it's these management that comes into question. I think we need a new legislature when it comes to laws governing sports bodies (not just athletics) and hope we can continue churning out excellent runners, however i feel, our dominance is waning and we seriously need to explore other events beacuse these athletic think will soon be a thing of the past.