USSSA issues directives on student-athlete bursaries

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The Uganda Secondary Schools Sports Association (USSSA) has introduced new guidelines for schools offering bursaries to talented student-athletes.

The directive follows reports of mistreatment, where some schools fail to honour verbal bursary agreements, especially when their teams do not advance in competitions.

To address this issue, the USSSA executive has agreed on measures to protect student-athletes.

“The USSSA rule aims at safeguarding schools that offer bursaries to student-athletes. Unfortunately, we have received complaints that some schools promise bursaries but later abandon them after the team’s elimination from tournaments,” USSSA president Justus Mugisha noted.

He added, “This situation disproportionately affects candidate-class athletes who may even miss UNEB registration, and therefore, to address this issue, we are introducing these measures.”

Under the new regulations, which take immediate effect, full bursaries for athletes must cover Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) registration, and all student-athletes must be registered for UNEB exams before their school competes in the national finals.

Additionally, USSSA will declare all unenrolled student-athletes' free agents at the end of the registration period. Special provisions will be made to help affected students join other schools, while schools found abandoning athletes will face sanctions in line with USSSA rules.

The USSSA sports season kicks off every March with lower zone competitions across 17 disciplines.

Successful teams progress to district and zonal levels before competing at the national championships in May and the FEASSA Games in August.