USSSA ship on desired trajectory for best school sports competitions

Upcoming schools’ sports competitions in 2024

• USSSA Ball Games Qualifiers (Across the country) – June to July
• USSSA Ball Games 2 Championships (Teso College Aloet) – 7^th to 17^th July
• Swimming Gala (Seroma Christian High School) – 27^th July
• FEASSSA Games (Bukedea Comprehensive School & Amus College) – 16^th to 27^th August
• Non FEASSSA qualification games (Teso College Aloet) – 1^st to 9^th September
• ISF Gymnasiade School Summer Games (Kingdom of Bahrain) – 23^rd to 31^st October

The bedrock of sports world-wide is inclined upon the youth set-up structures and pillars.

The skills taught to the youngsters at a tender age, disciplinary codes embedded unto them, the competitive spirit created and the right management system followed to the dot eventually culminates into that desired professional player.

 The Uganda Secondary Schools Sports Association (USSSA) is the body primarily tasked to handle the roles aforementioned with an assortment of sports disciplines at hand.

The cocktail of sports games include both the indoor disciplines as well as the outdoor elements.

Justus Mugisha, the USSSA president is the man on the steering wheel for the body.

Mugisha who also happens to head the ISF football commission, the FEASSSA body and vice president at FUFA has a clear agenda at hand.

 “USSSA has had four focus areas which are our guiding principles” he spoke to the media at the GNS Plaza in Kampala on Wednesday, 26^th June 2024.

“We want to promote mass sport so that we engage as many students in secondary schools as possible. This is right from district, zones and nationals. The target is to involve as many students as possible. We are also involved in cost sharing with schools on the USSSA and Government cake. We target talent identification and have a firm capacity building program” he added.

Flanked by the CEO of Uganda Secondary Schools Sports Association Christopher Mugisha Banage and the USSSA president emeritus Patrick Alfred Okanya (also the in charge of capacity building at USSSA), Mugisha hinted on the various programs and competitions that have helped them grow through leaps and bounds.

In particular, he cites the capacity building docket where over 3000 students and teachers have been trained in the dockets of coaching, refereeing and umpiring, media, first aid and administration (coming on the menu).

“You cannot operationalize mass sport without the man power. We have been able to train students and teachers who officiate at district, zonal, national and now international levels in ISF competitions” he adds.

This year alone, a number of local and international competitions have been competed in.

The Fresh Dairy secondary school games in Ndejje SS, national football games at Masaka SS, ISF world cross country championship (Nairobi, Belgrade, Serbia), ISF world school football championship (Dalian, China) and ISF world school basketball championship (Macao, China) have been played already.

In the Pipeline:

Coming up are the on-going USSSA Ball Games 2 Qualifiers (Across the country), Swimming Gala (Seroma Christian High School), USSSA Ball Games 2 Championships (Teso College Aloet) – 7^th to 17^th July, the FEASSSA Games (Bukedea Comprehensive School & Amus College) – 16^th to 27^th August, Non FEASSSA qualification games (Teso College Aloet) – 1^st to 9^th September and the ISF Gymnasiade School Summer Games (Kingdom of Bahrain) – 23^rd to 31^st October.

To further emphasize and give playing opportunities to purely young talent, competitions for students U-16 years have been extended from football to netball, basketball and rugby.

Mugisha calls upon all stakeholders to perfect their respective roles at hand with special appreciation to the players, school management committees, USSSA executive, zone and district levels and most important of all, the Government of the Republic of Uganda.