Laryea Kingston is not just interested in winning trophies with Uganda’s junior national teams. The Uganda Cubs coach wants to build a generation of players capable of carrying the Uganda Cranes forward, with most of the youngsters expected to break into the senior national team within the next three to four years.
Since his appointment by the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) in October 2025, Kingston has enjoyed a remarkable start, guiding Uganda’s junior sides to regional success and securing back-to-back continental and global qualifications.
But for the Ghanaian tactician, the real reward will come when the youngsters he is developing begin making their mark in the senior national team.
“We are not developing just players. The target is for most of them to make it into the Cranes in three, four years’ time to come. I think if you get the foundation right, then the building will be solid,” Kingston said.
He believes Uganda has made a promising start, although he is under no illusion about the challenges involved in turning talented youngsters into established international players.
“And I think we’ve started something very well. It’s not easy, nor is it going to be easy, but we continue to develop these kids,” he added.
Kingston’s early achievements suggest that the foundation is already taking shape.
In October 2026, he guided the Uganda Cubs to the CECAFA U17 Championship title, earning regional honours and automatically securing Uganda’s qualification for the 2027 U17 Africa Cup of Nations.
The Cubs did not stop at lifting the trophy. They also swept the tournament’s individual awards, winning the Most Valuable Player, Best Goalkeeper and Top Scorer accolades.
That triumph came after an equally historic achievement in May 2026, when Uganda qualified for the FIFA U17 World Cup in Qatar following an impressive campaign at the U17 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
The Cubs defeated DR Congo 3-0 before overcoming Kingston’s native Ghana in a decisive play-off to book their place at the global tournament.
Yet, rather than allowing those achievements to become isolated moments of celebration, Kingston is determined to make them part of a bigger project.
He oversees Uganda’s U15, U17 and U20 boys’ national teams and wants players to grow within one football philosophy instead of starting afresh every time they move to another age category.
His approach combines attacking, possession-based football with character classes designed to instil discipline, mental strength and the confidence needed to handle the demands of international tournaments.
The U20 team is particularly important in his plans. Kingston sees it as the final stepping stone before players make the jump to the Uganda Cranes and believes keeping successful U17 players together as they progress will help them adjust to the demands of senior football.
The plan includes taking the current generation through U20 CECAFA qualifiers and continental competitions, giving them regular opportunities to compete under pressure.
He is also working with FUFA’s Technical Department to identify and bring together the country’s best young talents.
The scouting approach combines graduates from local academies and clubs such as Vipers SC, KCCA FC and SC Villa with Ugandan youngsters developing in European academies, including Crystal Palace, Brentford and Fulham.
The idea is to create a competitive environment where locally developed players can learn from teammates exposed to different football systems, raising standards across the national teams.
Kingston also wants regular competitive matches and international exposure to become part of the development process rather than relying on short training camps. His belief is that players who experience high-pressure tournaments at 17 and 20 will be better prepared when they eventually reach the senior team.
Interestingly, he is already using the different generations within the junior setup to prepare one another for what lies ahead.
Kingston revealed that Uganda currently has three groups of players: those who recently won the CECAFA U17 Championship, those who secured qualification for the FIFA U17 World Cup and a group that has previously experienced the global tournament.
“We have three groups. The one that just won the CECAFA, and then the one that qualified the team for the World Cup. And then we have a few players that have been in the World Cup before,” he explained.
For him, the experience of those who have already played at the World Cup is particularly valuable. They are expected to help set the standards and guide the youngsters who recently secured Uganda’s qualification.
He also hopes some of the newly qualified players will feature in Qatar, allowing them to experience the tournament first-hand before pursuing qualification for another World Cup at the next age level.
“So the ones that have been in the World Cup, they’re setting the tone for the ones that qualify the team to the World Cup now. And then those ones that just qualified also, some of them will make it to the World Cup so that they also have that experience, the World Cup experience. So that when they also qualify for their own World Cup, it won’t be something surprising for them,” he said.
Kingston wants the World Cup to become a familiar environment for Uganda’s youngsters, not an occasion that leaves them overwhelmed by the occasion.
“The environment will be, they will be comfortable in that environment because they’ve experienced it,” he added.
With the CECAFA title secured, qualification for the 2027 U17 AFCON confirmed and a place at the FIFA U17 World Cup in Qatar already booked, Kingston has given Uganda’s junior football plenty to celebrate.
But his eyes are firmly on the future. He wants the players currently making Uganda proud at junior level to become the backbone of the Uganda Cranes, ensuring that their development does not end when they outgrow the Cubs and Hippos.