The Uganda Secondary Schools Sports Association (USSSA) has launched its Weekend League in Kiryandongo District, introducing a new competition platform aimed at giving school athletes more opportunities to compete outside the association’s regular national school sports calendar.
The inaugural activities were held on Friday, 25 September 2026, at Panyadoli Self-Help Secondary School, where the USSSA Secretariat, led by Chief Executive Officer Christopher Mugisha, engaged school sports stakeholders before the opening match of the championship.
USSSA Secretariat tgether with some of the staff members of Panyandoli Self Help Secondary School led by the Head Teacher
The USSSA delegation was welcomed by the Headteacher of Panyadoli Self-Help Secondary School, Lagu Yassir, who appreciated the introduction of the Weekend League and its potential contribution to school sport.
Yassir noted that sports at Panyadoli go beyond winning trophies, with the school deliberately using sport as a platform to instill discipline and shape the character of its students.
USSSA Secretariat in an engagement with Panyandoli Self Help Secondary School Headteacher
Understanding the Weekend League
Following the reception, USSSA Manager in charge of Weekend Leagues, Ivan Bayige, took teachers from the Kiryandongo District Secondary Schools Sports Association through the concept and objectives of the new competition.
Bayige explained that the Weekend League is designed to give students more playing time during weekends while creating additional competition opportunities beyond the regular USSSA national calendar.
The initiative seeks to keep athletes active throughout the year by enabling schools in neighbouring areas to compete regularly, providing players with more exposure and coaches with more opportunities to assess and develop talent.
Ivan Bayige, In charge of Weekend Leagues at USSSA briefing games teachers from the Kiryandongo District Secondary Schools Sports Association.
Martin Nsimbi from the USSSA Licensing Department subsequently took the teachers through the rules and regulations governing school sport, including player transfers and enrolment.
Nsimbi emphasized the importance of maintaining integrity in school sport and encouraged schools to use the competition as a platform for talent identification and development. He also guided the teachers through the processes of enrolling and registering players for participation in the competition.
Teachers from Kiryandongo Secondary Schools Sports Association during the facilitation.
Weekend League gets underway
The Weekend League officially got underway with the hosts, Panyadoli Self-Help Secondary School, taking on Kiryandongo High Secondary School in the opening match.
Panyandoli Self Help Secondary School Starting XI
The two sides played out a goalless draw in a closely contested encounter, with both teams taking a point from the opening fixture. The opening activities also featured a friendly encounter between the USSSA Secretariat and Panyadoli Self-Help Secondary School staff, which ended 0-0.
Kiryandongo High School Starting Line Up
The match provided an informal opportunity for interaction between the association officials and school staff as part of the broader stakeholder engagement.
USSSA School Sports Podcast highlights Panyadoli’s baseball journey
The launch was also accompanied by an episode of the USSSA School Sports Podcast, which focused on Panyadoli Self-Help Secondary School’s emergence as a force in baseball.
Our host sat down with games teacher Becky Irene alongside students Amono Nelson and Apoka Kevin to discuss the school’s recent success at the FEASSA Games in Tanzania, where Panyadoli won the baseball championship.
Baseball and softball were introduced at Panyadoli Self-Help in 2022 and have since become among the school’s major sporting disciplines. The school has also emerged as one of the few institutions in the region actively participating in the sport.
During the discussion, the school highlighted challenges including limited equipment and a lack of regular competition, with opportunities largely limited to national competitions and the FEASSA Games.
The students, however, spoke about baseball as a discipline that promotes discipline, creativity and physical activity. They described the game as one that requires an active player, a sober mind and a strong work ethic.They also shared the school’s faith-based perspective on the sport, referring to their baseball journey as being “for God.”
The games teacher appreciated the support provided by the school and USSSA towards the development of baseball, noting the role of such initiatives in supporting the growth of the discipline in Kiryandongo and Uganda.
Leaders welcome Weekend League innovationSpeaking during the launch, Bayige said the Weekend League was introduced to address the limited competition available to school athletes outside the traditional school sports calendar. He explained that the conventional USSSA calendar largely operates around competitions held during the first and second school terms, leaving athletes with fewer opportunities to compete during other periods of the year.
The Weekend League, he said, will provide schools with an opportunity to continue competing against institutions within their surrounding areas while giving athletes more playing time.
USSSA Chief Executive Officer Christopher Mugisha described the Weekend League as part of the association’s mass sport approach aimed at ensuring that every student has an opportunity to participate in a sporting discipline.
He said the programme would also provide coaches with an opportunity to identify emerging talent ahead of the following season while assessing areas that require improvement from previous competitions.
“This is our bid for mass sport, to make sure that every student, every athlete, has a discipline he or she is participating in,” Mugisha said.
He added that the additional competitions would enable coaches to identify talent and address areas that may have gone wrong during the previous season.The CEO further revealed that the Weekend League will be rolled out to other parts of the country, with Ngora and Gulu among the next destinations targeted by the association in the coming week.
The launch in Kiryandongo forms part of USSSA’s broader stakeholder engagement programme aimed at strengthening its relationship with member schools while understanding the experiences, challenges and needs of school sports practitioners.
Through the Weekend League and other development initiatives, USSSA continues to expand opportunities for school athletes to compete, develop their talents and experience the wider benefits of sport, including discipline, teamwork, commitment and character development.
