162 Technical Officials Upskilled Ahead of Africa Netball Cup and Sydney 2027 Qualifier

Kenya has stepped up preparations for the 2026 Africa Netball Cup and the Sydney 2027 Netball World Cup African Regional Qualifier with the successful completion of a three-day intensive training programme for netball technical officials. The training, held at the Stadion Hotel in Kasarani, Nairobi, brought together 163 delegates, including 158 participants from more than 40 counties across Kenya and five officials from Uganda.

The programme focused on strengthening technical officiating capacity, with participants undergoing training designed to qualify them for Grade 2 netball officiating. The training is particularly important ahead of the continental competitions, as the host nation is required to provide qualified technical officials to manage matches as a requirement of World Netball.

Following the three-day programme, qualified officials will be assessed and selected to form part of the technical teams for the Africa Netball Cup 2026 and the Sydney 2027 Netball World Cup African Regional Qualifier.

“I'm very happy to be here today because we have had a very successful training on the technical part. I've been involved in umpiring, but I can say today I have qualified to be a technical official because we have gone through thorough training and I'm very happy.” Said Anne Njeri, a teacher and coach from Narok.

“We have leart a lot. Previously, I was only familiar with one document in netball, the running scoresheet that every netball official is familiar with. But at least I've gotten an opportunity to learn seven other documents that qualify me to record any international game and even a local game.” Said Lilian Kyallo, a netball official from Kitui County

Speaking during the closing ceremony, John Ogolla, Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K), underscored the importance of investing in coaches, umpires and technical officials as part of the wider development of sport. Ogolla said the quality of any sport depends heavily on the people responsible for understanding and implementing its rules.

“Every sport is as good as its coaches, technical officials and umpires. If you have people who do not understand the rules and regulations of the game, you are going nowhere.” He described the training of more than 160 officials as a significant achievement for the development of Kenyan netball. “This initiative by Netball Federation of Kenya to have 162 people in one room learning the same thing for the sole objective of developing the sport is a very, very great achievement.”

Ogolla also highlighted a new partnership between NOC-K and Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST) aimed at providing certified training programmes for coaches and technical officials and that the first cohort of 50 participants is expected to begin the certified courses soon.

The technical officials' training forms part of Kenya's broader preparations to host the Africa Netball Cup 2026 that doubles up as the Sydney 2027 Netball World Cup African Regional Qualifier. The competitions will take place in Nairobi from 19–26 September 2026, with the Africa Netball Cup bringing together 12 nations from across the continent.

The participating countries are Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Eswatini, Ghana, Malawi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

For Kenya, the tournament represents a major milestone as the country prepares to host the continental championship. With the technical officiating team now being strengthened, Kenya's preparations are moving beyond the court as Nairobi gets ready to stage one of the continent's biggest netball events.