More than 2,000 athletes aged under 17 have joined a Sports Development Training Camp being held at provincial level from July 28 to August 10.
The two-week camp is part of the national talent search initiative, a flagship programme of the Ministry of Sports implemented in partnership with the Isonga-AFD Programme. The initiative aims to identify, promote and develop young sporting talent across Rwanda in line with the National Sports Development Policy.
The previous edition, which concluded in December 2025, brought together young athletes from all 30 districts. Following talent assessments, the best-performing athletes were selected and assigned to five training sites across the country.
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Groupe Scolaire Officiel de Butare is hosting 1,125 athletes from the Southern Province, while College Saint André has welcomed 438 athletes from the City of Kigali. The remaining athletes are training at ES Saint Vincent Muhoza in the Northern Province, Groupe Scolaire St Aloys Rwamagana in the Eastern Province and École des Sciences de Gisenyi in the Western Province, with 206 athletes assigned to each site.
Officiating the opening of the camp at College Saint André on Tuesday, Minister of State for Sports Rwego Ngarambe urged the young athletes to make the most of the opportunity.
"You are the future leaders and sports stars of this country. Do not take this opportunity for granted," Ngarambe said.
"Being selected at the provincial level means that your talent has already been identified. You have been brought together with other talented athletes, and this should motivate you to continue learning, improving and working hard."
The previous training camps covered six disciplines, including basketball, volleyball, handball, athletics, football and cycling. This year, the number has doubled to 12 with the addition of several individual sports, including karate, kung fu, taekwondo, swimming, sitting volleyball and table tennis.
Beyond its long-term objective of developing future national-team athletes, the camp is also expected to strengthen Rwanda's talent identification efforts ahead of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.
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According to Kigali site coordinator Jacques Kayisire, the best athletes emerging from the camp will represent Rwanda at the 2026 Federation of East Africa Secondary Schools Sports Association (FEASSA) Games, scheduled to begin on August 12 in Tanzania.
"In previous years, we mainly selected athletes from advanced levels of secondary school who were ready to compete in this regional school competition," Kayisire explained.
"However, we are now trying to maximise every competitive opportunity that can help develop our athletes and build their confidence. We expect to include athletes from lower levels of secondary school as we prepare to start identifying and developing players from primary school before sending them to FEASSA competitions."
The camp will also provide training and certification for 68 first-aid volunteers and 120 young referees as part of efforts to strengthen technical and medical support for school sports.
