The Uganda Secondary Schools Sports Association convened a meeting of zonal chairpersons and secretaries on Friday morning at its offices in Old Kampala to prepare for the upcoming Ball Games I qualifiers and align zones on the roadmap for the 2026 schools’ competitions.
Representatives from all 19 USSSA zones attended the engagement, including Rwenzori, Acholi, Kampala, Wakiso, Masaka, Lango, Busoga, Bugisu, Karamoja, Teso, Ankole, Kigezi, West Nile, Bukedi, Sebei, Mpigi, Luweero, Bunyoro and Mukono.
In his opening remarks, USSSA chief executive officer Mugisha Banage urged zonal leaders to ensure schools carefully read official communication sent by the association, particularly documents covering transfers, competitions and regulations.
“Encourage the people in your zones to read the documents we send them because all the information they require is written there. Information such as transfers, competitions as well as rules and regulations is clearly written in all these documents,” Banage said.
The meeting was chaired by USSSA president Mugisha Justus, who outlined several resolutions aimed at improving organization and athlete development across the zones.
“We resolved that each zone should organize two athletics zone meets before the National Championships. To facilitate this we will provide financial support of one million shillings to zones that have already incorporated these meets into their calendars this year,” Justus said.
He also pointed to improvements in officiating standards through USSSA’s capacity building programs.
“This is one area am particularly proud of during my tenure. At the 2026 Elite games all officials deployed were products of this program and as a result we recorded no petitions. This shows that our standards are steadily improving in a sustainable way. I encourage all zones to utilize and encourage officials who have gone through this program,” he added.
Justus, however, acknowledged concerns about athletics performance at the schools level.
“Our performance in athletics has been below expectations. Out assessment shows that many talented athletes rely on bursaries to access education and sports opportunities. However very few schools currently provide bursaries for athletes, which has limited our ability to identify and nurture talent,” he said.
Among the key issues discussed were the 2026 rules and regulations released on February 26, including the introduction of age categories for participants and officials. Zones were also reminded that all schools must register their athletes on the USSSA system ahead of competitions.
Zonal leaders were further asked to confirm their 2026 competition calendars and venues for qualifiers with the USSSA secretariat.
Officials were warned that failure to comply with eligibility rules and registration requirements could lead to sanctions under the guidelines of the Ministry of Education and Sports, with zonal chairpersons and secretaries bearing oversight responsibility for competitions conducted at district level.
The meeting was attended by several executive committee members, including first vice president Hajji Kitezaala Twahil, second vice president Okot P’Bitek and third vice president Apolot Harriet, alongside other committee officials.
