Gulu University dominates National Disability Sports gala

Gulu University head coach for persons with disabilities, Geofrey Otim, believes his team’s performance at this year’s Annual National Disability Sports Gala in Kabale District reflects their good preparations in all the disciplines in which they emerged victorious.

The Northern Uganda-based institution emerged overall champion in the university category after accumulating a total of 280 points in the three-day event at Kigezi High School Primary.

“We came for these games well prepared in five sports disciplines and emerged champions with our focus mostly centered on athletics,” Otim happily noted.

They accumulated points from athletics, goalball, para powerlifting, showdown, and judo, beating off stiff competition from Makerere University Business School (MUBS), who came in second with 248 points, and Makerere University, who finished third with 165 points overall.

Otim pointed out that his team’s next focus is the regional goalball tournament in December.

“Having won the goalball discipline, we qualified for the East African University Games at Maseno University in Kenya. However, we also excelled in judo and para powerlifting,” Otim said.

The atmosphere at the sports venue was exciting, with the general public rallying behind the para-athletes, providing both moral and physical support.

The gala is also used as a talent identification platform for the Uganda Paralympic Committee (UPC) to source talented persons with disabilities to overcome their challenges and embrace an active sports career.

This year’s gala featured 17 sports disciplines, including athletics, para-archery, table tennis, cricket, powerlifting, and judo, among others, with a total of 210 participants.

Patrick Synole, the Director of Administration, called on the government for more funding to enable UPC to carry out all the calendar activity plans due to the wide scope of disciplines they cover.

“We are very appreciative of the sh1.2 billion funding from the government but appeal for more since the vast coverage of the sports disciplines we cover calls for more funding for UPC to do both local and international events,” Synole appealed.

Annual National Disability Sports Gala

Results

University category           points

Gulu University                  280

MUBS                                   248

Makerere university           165

Secondary category

Gulu high school                 569

Mbale municipal council   557

Mvara SS                                253

Primary category

Yumbe Primary School 377

Kabale municipal council   175

Isingiro Primary School 117