USSSA eyes expansion in school sports participation for 2025

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The Uganda Secondary Schools Sports Association (USSSA) has set its operational targets for the 2025 calendar year to align with its primary objective of talent identification and development as mandated by its supervisor, the Ministry of Education and Sports.

Among the top priorities of the work plan is ensuring an increased number of student-athletes in all 22 disciplines played at secondary competitions, starting from the lower zones and districts across the 19 zones (regions) under USSSA mapping.

Capacity building has also been prioritised to ensure more students and teachers are equipped with the technical skills of the various sports that schools participate in.

Association president Justus Mugisha says that by doing this, they aim to reduce the association’s costs of hiring officials to officiate school games and align with the government policy of enabling all school-going citizens to participate in physical education and sports.

“As an association that deals directly with schools, we are mandated to enable all school-going children to take part in physical education and sports, so we have to work towards achieving that. We are also trying to equip our own with all sports skills as coaches, referees/umpires, medical personnel, and media, which will help reduce the association costs of hiring external officials,” Mugisha said.

To achieve the targets set for massive participation, USSSA has started extending financial support to the 19 zones across the country, with the amount determined by the number of athletes registered by the zone on the association's online platform.

First to benefit from this is the Ankole zone, which will receive sh16 million this year, having registered 16,000 athletes in 2024, followed by the Busoga zone, which registered 13,000 athletes and will be given sh12 million.

“This will help us make a demanding call on the zonal committees to look at ways of mobilising schools to massively take part in sports, and we shall have scored. We know there are very good talents out there, but they are not tapped, and this will help a lot,” Mugisha said.

On capacity building, USSSA has already equipped 16,000 students and teachers with coaching, refereeing, medical, and media skills, and Mugisha says the target for 2025 is to reach 25,000.

He outlines other areas of consideration as continued participation in international school competitions, advocacy for mass sports (increased number of disciplines), participation in the International Sports Teachers’ Symposium in France, continuation of weekend leagues in football, retention of the FEASSA accolade, sustained good performance at ISF, a camp for athletics talent identification of U15s, and continued efforts against age cheating by emphasising the use of LIN from P5.

Financial support to USPA and maintaining a cordial relationship with the media for continued promotion of the USSSA brand are also highlighted.

The 2025 national USSSA competition dates and venues have been set. Bukedea Comprehensive School will host the USSSA Ball Games I, with Ngora High hosting the boys' football competition in May. Seroma Christian High School will host the swimming gala, while St Peter’s Tororo is named the host for USSSA Ball Games II, both scheduled for July.