Overview:
The excelling crop from the Chenga tournament will surely be the basis of Uganda’s football, embarking with the U-15, U-16, U-17, U-18, U-20, U-21 and U-23 youth set ups, all aspiring for the senior national team (Uganda Cranes) and professional football.
2024 Uganda Youth Football Association (UYFA) Chenga National championship
Champions:
- Boys: Sparta 09 Academy
- Girls: El Cambio Academy
World over, the future of sports development is embedded among the rich youth programs in place.
Such programs prepare the athletes in the box with good skills (technical and tactics), ethics and the desired dreams to be accomplished.
In Uganda, the Uganda Youth Football Association (UYFA), a body under the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) is primarily tasked to prepare youngsters for future football endeavors.
The annual Chenga national championship is one of the tournaments organized by UYFA for children between the ages of 11 to 13 years in either gender.
Sparta 09 Academy (Kampala) and El Cambio Academy (Masaka) won the boys and girls’ respective championships hosted at Mbarara High School in Mbarara city, Western Uganda.
Rubaga based Sparta 09 Academy overcame Busia’s Summer Kids Soccer Academy in the boys’ final, winning 7-6 in post-match penalties after normal time had ended goal-less.
For the girls’ finale; El Cambio Academy from Masaka city edged Wakiso’s Kick It Soccer Academy 1-0 courtesy of Immaculate Acheng’s goal.
Individual Awards:
Girls:
The Most Valuable Player for the girls was Immaculate Acheng (El Cambio Academy).
Kick It Soccer Academy had the best goalkeeper Deboray Babirye and Patricia Tendo, the top scorer with five goals.
Boys:
Jessy Ssekandi (Della Torre Football Academy) was the boys’ Most Valuable Player (MVP).
Della Torre Football Academy also had the top scorer in Joshua Muwanguzi with 7 goals to his name.
Ashraf Obua (Summer Kids Soccer Academy) was the best goalkeeper.
Besides trophies, medals, plaques for individual top performers, there were also certificates to all participants and teams.
The championship was originally supposed to be held in December 2023 but was pushed to early January 2024.
It officially kicked off on Monday, 15th January and climaxed on the Saturday, 20th January 2024.
The attendance was overwhelming with 24 boys’ teams from all the 8 FUFA football regions; which sportingly qualified for the nationals.
Seven girls’ teams attended of the eight invited by the organizing committee.
The championship was organized by the Uganda Youth Football Association (UYFA) with support from FUFA and a number of academies.
With the right follow up mechanism and procedure, the excelling crop from the Chenga tournament will surely be the basis of Uganda’s football, embarking with the U-15, U-16, U-17, U-18, U-20, U-21 and U-23 youth set ups, all aspiring for the senior national team (Uganda Cranes) and professional football.
Selected results:
Finals:
- Boys: Sparta 09 (Rubaga) (7) 0-0 (6) Summer Kids Soccer Academy (Busia)
- Girls: El Cambio Academy (Masaka) 1-0 Kick It Soccer Academy (Wakiso)
Semi finals
Boys
- Summer Kids Soccer Academy 1-0 Alfa Football Academy
- Sparta 09 (4) 0-0 (2) Della Torre Academy
Girls:
- El Cambio Academy 2-0 Miracle Youth Soccer Academy
- Kick It SA (4) 0-0 (3) Garuga Soccer Academy
Individual Awards:
Girls:
- Best Goalkeeper: Babirye Deboray (Kick It Soccer Academy)
- Top Scorer: Patricia Tendo – 5 Goals (Kick It Soccer Academy
- Most Valuable Player (MVP): Immaculate Acheng – El Cambio Academy
Boys:
- Best Goalkeeper: Ashraf Obua (Summer Kids Soccer Academy)
- Top Scorer: Joshua Muwanguzi – 7 Goals (Della Torre Academy)
- Most Valuable Player (MVP): Jessy Ssekandi – Della Torre Football Academy