Uganda’s premier beach soccer league is set to resume this Sunday, the 14th of January, with Mutoola BSC and Kiringente serving the first match to be played at FUFA technical centre since the torrential rains put the league on hold in late November.
Wolves, still in search for their first season’s win, will play Kampala City who is riding high at the top of the pile after one outing.
The likely intense match between St. Lawrence University and MS Sand Lions will spring in next before the Mengo derby between Mengo Hill and Buganda Royal takes center stage.
Kiringente, in their second engagement on the day, will test Kampala City as Wolves pray for mercy against St. Lawrence.
Sunday’s action concludes with MS Sand Lions taking on Kampala Junior Team (KJT) at 5pm.
Kampala City has three points, same as St. Lawrence, MS Sand Lions, Buganda Royal, KJT and Mutoola but they lead the table because of a superior goal difference of 12.
Five fixtures have been scheduled for this weekend in the FUFA beach soccer league, with MS Sand Lions going head to head with St. Lawrence University in the Sunday action at FUFA technical centre in Njeru.
This match is shaping up to be the biggest highlight of match day two. St. Lawrence University is the only side to have won the league in the past four seasons and fully justified their perennial favorites tag with a 12-3 win over Grace Church at the start of the season.
MS Sand Lions made the play offs last term and opened this campaign with a huge 9-0 victory over rookies Mengo Hill. They must however be worried of facing the Saints this early and Coach Jamir Ssemwogerere has to put in plenty of effective tactics if they are to get any chance against Davis Nnono’s juggernaut.
Current table standings
Ivan Kulika’s Kampala City will be looking to continue their fine start when they play Buganda Royal in their second game. Kampala City kicked off their season last week with a dominant 13-1 win over Grace Church.
Buganda Royal BSC however earned three points and three goals without cutting sweat after Kiringente failed to appear for their fixture.
Mutoola BSC will also search for their second win when they take on Kiringente. They labored and left it late to record a 5-4 victory over Wolves last time out.
The other games will see Kampala Junior Team (KJT) play Mengo Hill, while Kampala City will feature in their second game of the day against the unpredictable Wolves.
The competitions committee has released the opening fixtures of the FUFA beach soccer league, season 2023/24.
The new season is scheduled to start on Sunday, 19th November 2023 with six matches at FUFA Technical Centre in Njeru as indicated by the fixtures released on Tuesday evening.
Eleven teams will compete in the 2023-24 season, including two new sides – Mengo Hill BSC and Kampala City BSC.
Perennial contenders – St. Lawrence University, Buganda Royal, MUBS and Mutoola will again point muzzles against each other in the quest for the season’s honors. The other teams include; MS Sand Lions, Kiringente BSC, Kampala Junior Team (KJT), Grace Church and Wolves BSC.
Grace Church will get the season up and running in the opening match against newbies Kampala City at 11am.
Super four beach soccer tourney finalists Mutoola will follow up at 12pm against Wolves before Buganda Royal face the Kiringente test. MUBS will mark their return to league action with a tie against KJT.
St. Lawrence will begin their title defense with a match against Grace Church while rookies Mengo Hill will also taste the sand against MS Sand Lions.
Fixtures for the subsequent match days will be released as soon as possible.
St. Lawrence University defeated Mutoola BSC 4-2 on Sunday to retain the super four beach tournament crown at FUFA Technical Centre in Njeru. Super four is the competition that serves as the curtain raiser to the new season. It is played by the top four teams as ranked by the previous season.
Baker Lukooya scored a hat-trick before Jonathan Kikonyogo added the fourth for the Saints to secure the trophy, their second in three finals played.
Guest of honour Mr. Isa Magoola (FUFA Exco Member) and Director of football development at FUFA – Ali Mwebe inspecting teams
Mutoola cruised past MS Sand Lions in the semifinals but were a shadow of themselves against Davis Nnono’s side.
They looked nervous and coiled their tails at the ultimate stage that mattered most. Their two goals came through Simon Peter Kijjo and Faisal Ssekitti.
Despite finishing fifth, Buganda Royal took part as a replacement for Jinja Lions who dropped out of the competition but were swiftly undone at the semifinal stage by an experienced St. Lawrence team. The new look side soon had their heads in their hands a few moments into the first period when Emmanuel Wasswa struck for St. Lawrence.
Veteran Sulaiman Ochero and Baker Lukooya grabbed a brace each to seal victory for their side while Dalton Davis Ssewanyana stood tall for the Abambowa with all the two goals.
MS Sand Lions, appearing in this competition for the very first time, were swept aside at the first time of asking by Mutoola. Faisal Ssekit (2), Simon Peter Kijjo, Sharif Apuuli and Farooq Kiberu scored for the Sand Giants. The Lions from Makindye had their goals through Simon Kizito and Emmanuel Matovu.
Buganda Royal beat Ms Sand Lions 5-3 in the third place play off to finish third.
St. Lawrence has now won the most super four titles – two, having defeated Buganda Royal in the previous edition held early this year.
Four days of committed learning resulted into the graduation of nineteen (19) beach soccer coaches on Friday 10th October 2023 at FUFA Technical Centre in Njeru.
The coaches, now equipped with advanced knowledge, tactics and skills, are now fit to make better beach soccer players through practice with their respective clubs.
Kenya Harambee Sand Stars head coach Kinero Swaleh (right) receiving his certificate from the facilitator
They were taught coaching styles, training planning, training session structure, coach’s input during training, psychology and mentality, fitness training for beach soccer, match coaching, match analysis, formations, nutrition, injury prevention and rehabilitation, among many other things by instructor Bashir Mutyaba.
Bashir Mutyaba
These valuable skills are expected to make a huge contribution to the general enhancement of the quality of the game of beach soccer in Uganda when applied correctly.
Among the notable figures in the course included Kinero Swaleh – Harambee Sand Stars head coach and former Sand Cranes head coach – Muwonge Salim.
Isaac Eshioke from Nigeria was also among the learners
During the closing function, the coaches were combined with the beach soccer referees who have also been fine tuning their skills at the same venue.
The final moment of the courses was graced by different dignitaries including the Eastern region and FUFA EXCO member Isa Magoola who represented the FUFA president as the chief guest. Others included the chairman of Uganda Beach Soccer Association – Deo Mutabazi, chairman of the referees committee – Brian Miiro Nsubuga and FUFA delegate Hassan Kavuma from Buganda region.
As one of the key pillars of the game of beach soccer in Uganda, chairman Mutabazi was amused by the big pool and quality of human resource being created to serve the game, he also appealed to FUFA to increase the budget of beach soccer referees going forward.
chairman Deo Mutabazi
“I want to thank all of you who have been here for the entire week to ensure that these two courses are a success. Beach soccer is my life. I always give in for the good of this game, and I hope that with this quality of human resource Ben and Mutyaba have prepared for us, our duty administratively is now to create competitions and deploy these people to work and serve the country. The year 2024 is going to be a busy year for beach soccer in terms of competitions and activities throughout the country,” he said.
“So I assure you the expertise you have got from here is purely going to be so beneficial for us as a country. I am lucky that at the closing ceremony, we have the chairman referees who I must thank for the support. Previously, we were struggling with payment of referees ourselves but the federation took it over. And now through his office, I want to request for the increment of the budget of the beach soccer referees because now the number is going to increase yet they should be well facilitated and remunerated.”
“My brother Katabira used to tell me that you cannot have a good referee whose mental state is not stable. If someone has a lot of things disturbing the mind, then definitely the performance on the field of play will not be as perfect as you want.”
He further mentioned that Uganda has set sight on playing in the finals of the beach soccer world cup 2025 in Seychelles, calling upon the referees and the coaches to sweat blood so they can join the elites at the world stage.
“Next year we have beach soccer world cup in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Ben has been here and has seen our referees, I am not campaigning for them to be there but you never know God might make miracles and we have our referees at the world cup.”
“It’s the same year we are going to have beach soccer AFCON qualifiers which I believe if our people prepare very well, they should be able to take opportunities at the continent and the international activities.”
“Remember, after the world cup in UAE, the next world cup is going to be in Seychelles, Africa. And as Uganda, we have already started the project. We want Uganda to be in the finals of FIFA beach soccer world cup in Seychelles. Not the team alone, but even our referees and coaches should have the opportunity to feature at the international stage.”
Chief guest Isa Magoola relaying his remarks during the closing function
Mr. Magoola promised that FUFA will offer unconditional support to beach soccer but cautioned the referees to remain far and clear from the vice of match fixing and betting.
“I am honored to be here to close these two courses. As you are aware, we cannot have the game played without referees and the coaches. As FUFA, we are improving the remuneration of the referees and I think there is going to be more improvements in the remuneration but I want to caution them. We have passed the sports law. It talks about betting. Let us take care of ourselves against betting. The sports Act is clear, you will be charged in the courts of law if you go criminal. Let us avoid that,” he said.
“I want to thank CAF and FIFA for the courses. As Mr.Egesa said that they have applied for more courses, at the other level where I am – the policy level, ours is to prove that we can pass the policy when it’s brought under the executive. I will pass the message to the FUFA president to see that we can do whatever is needed to see that those courses are approved and well facilitated.”
“I am saying this due to our cordial relationship with CAF and FIFA, and I know we shall have them.”
“I want to thank Bashir. When he came to beach soccer, he was one in all; he was self-contained – in coaching and everything but now we are moving in the right direction. We are now having coaches who are going to help the instructor to develop the game.”
List of participants:
Kinero Swaleh (Harambee Sand Stars – Kenya NT), Kaddu Steven (Grace Church), Ngalire Geoffrey (Rubaga Youths), Musasizi Abdul Haliki ( Jinja Lions), Kutosi Daniel (Gulu), Lubowa Salim (Jiinja Lions), Kulika Ivan, Tayomba Solomon (Jinja Lions), Eng. Ssenfuma Timothy (Mutoola BSC), Omiat George (Kamuli), Joloba Yusuf (MS Sand Lions), Mutungi Alleluya ( Standard High School – Zzana), Isaac Ishioke (Nigeria), Bisaso Brian, Kimuli Tomasi (Mutoola), Kalanzi Gideon (Mutoola), Kalema Steven (Mutoola), Mukwata Peter Roland (Mutoola) and Muwonge Salim (Mutoola).
The beach soccer coaching course organized by Uganda Beach Soccer Association (UBSA) began on Tuesday 10th October 2023 at FUFA Technical Centre in Njeru.
It was initially scheduled for July but it was pushed forward due to various reasons. Participants have come from different corners of Africa, with some coming from Kenya and Nigeria.
Nineteen coaches got into the training that is being conducted by FUFA instructor Bashir Mutyaba and everyone is showing the zeal to learn.
Harambee Sand Stars coach Kinero Swaleh
Among the coaches in attendance are; Kinero Swaleh – Harambee Sand Stars head coach, former Sand Cranes head coach – Muwonge Salim, Standard High School – Zzana coach – Mutungi Alleluya, Eng. Ssenfuma Timothy and Lance corporal Kutosi Daniel from UPDF (Gulu barracks).
The course, which is intended to improve the quality of coaches in our local league, will take four days – ending on Friday 13th October 2023.
UBSA chairman Deo Mutabazi
“We organized this course to help us in the new season that kicks off in a few weeks from now and we hope that after here, clubs are going to have the right and licensed coaches,” Chairman UBSA Deo Mutabazi said.
“All of you that are here are going to get certificates and bench permits which will allow you to coach a team.”
“Coaches without bench permits will not be allowed to sit on the bench during games. It’s now a club licensing requirement.”
“These issues of getting someone on the bench to shout out instructions about a game he doesn’t know are now phased out.”
He continued and said:
“I want to request you to give this training serious attention because the game is changing on a daily basis and for some of you who have been at the international stage; you have seen how beach soccer is changing.”
“So, take this course seriously, put the right skills into our players so that the country benefits. The players that you are going to give the skills are the very players the national team gets to represent the country.”
“I am sure the time you are going to spend here will not be a waste. Utilize it very well because we want you to add some contribution onto the game.”
FUFA 2nd vice president Darius Mugoye (middle)during the opening ceremony
FUFA second vice president Darius Mugoye was the guest of honor at the opening function, and he reiterated that the federation is firmly focused on making Uganda the based footballing nation in Africa, on and off the field.
The vice president took some time off to applaud the coaches for serving the game diligently but also asked them to make the best use of the knowledge they are getting.
“Beach soccer is one of the fastest growing games not only in Uganda, not only in Africa but in the whole world,” he said.
“And for you choosing to associate yourself with it, I think it’s a very good decision. People normally want to associate themselves with things that have already taken off. They don’t want to be part of the process.”
“But I am very humbled to hear that engineers, some people from Kenya, Nigeria are here for the course.”
“Very many times coaches leave the classroom, hide the books and say the thing taught cannot work here, they are for the whites.”
“Therefore, I implore you to practice what is being taught, and at the same time, I officially declare this course opened.”
instructor Bashir Mutyaba
While in Njeru, the coaches are set to learn ball familiarity, coaching styles, training planning, training session structure, coach’s input during training, psychology and mentality, fitness training for beach soccer, match coaching, match analysis, formations, nutrition, injury prevention and rehabilitation, among others.
List of participants:
Kinero Swaleh (Harambee Sand Stars – Kenya NT), Kaddu Steven (Grace Church), Ngalire Geoffrey (Rubaga Youths), Musasizi Abdul Haliki ( Jinja Lions), Kutosi Daniel (Gulu), Lubowa Salim (Jiinja Lions), Kulika Ivan, Tayomba Solomon (Jinja Lions), Eng. Ssenfuma Timothy (Mutoola BSC), Omiat George (Kamuli), Joloba Yusuf (MS Sand Lions), Mutungi Alleluya ( Standard High School – Zzana), Isaac Ishioke (Nigeria), Bisaso Brian, Kimuli Tomasi (Mutoola), Kalanzi Gideon (Mutoola), Kalema Steven (Mutoola), Mukwata Peter Roland (Mutoola) and Muwonge Salim (Mutoola).
The beach soccer coaching course, organized by Uganda Beach Soccer Association (UBSA), is finally happening next week – beginning on Tuesday (10th October) and is expected to end on Friday 13th October 2023 at FUFA Technical Centre in Njeru.
It was initially scheduled for July but uncertainties compelled the organizers to delay it.
The training will offer participants with cutting edge knowledge and skills as well as the opportunity to learn the modern approach to the game.
Facilitators are coming from FUFA development directorate and they will conduct the course for all the four days.
Registration fee for the training is Shs 150,000, and the participants will be provided with accommodation, feeding, refreshments, course attires, certificates, note pads and pens, among others.
Training, skilling and equipping the human resource with knowledge is one of the strategies UBSA is using to develop the game of beach soccer in the country.
Class two of Football Administration and Management Course level one (FAMACOI) has also completed studies at the FUFA SIG offices in Mengo.
Uganda Beach Soccer Association (UBSA) organized the training and a total of 39 football managers, hailing from different parts of East Africa, have successfully graduated and issued certificates on Saturday.
The course had participants from Moroto, Lyantonde, Tororo, Ntungamo, Bundibugyo and from as far as Kigali, Rwanda. Kigundu Ibrahim, the team manager of Rwandan club Kiyovu was part of the learners
UBSA vice chairman Sseguya Peter (left) with Mr. Ronnie Kalema
Others included; Buganda Royal beach soccer club chief executive officer – Mukasa Benard, Sand Cranes team manager Ssebaggala Tonny, FUFA referees instructor Egesa Samuel, UBSA finance director Kyewalabye Joel and KCCA FC head of business Joshua Nagenda.
Kyewalabye Joel (left) was excited after completing FAMACO1
Director of football development at FUFA Ali Mwebe, Uganda premier league chief executive officer Benard Bainamani Bampaire, Kiiza Decolas, and Ronnie Kalema were the instructors who took the participants through various modules which included; football statutes, regulations and importance, football competitions, match organizations, laws of the game, football protection, communication, among others.
Mr. Kiiza Decolas & Mr, Ronnie Kalema during the closing function
FUFA deputy CEO – Kiiza Decolas advised the graduates to put the knowledge and development ideas attained into proper use to improve the game, while the executive secretary of football development at FUFA Ronnie Kalema was the guest of honor at the closing function.
The Football Administration and Management course level one (FAMACOI) organized by Uganda Beach Soccer Association (UBSA) is still continuing.
A total of 39 participants in class two reported for studies at the FUFA SIG offices in Mengo on Thursday.
Team manager of Rwanda premier league club– SC Kiyovu Kigundu Ibrahim and UBSA vice chairperson – Sseguya Peter are among the learners. Others include; Buganda Royal Beach Soccer Club chief executive officer – Mukasa Benard, Sand Cranes team manager Ssebaggala Tonny, FUFA referees instructor Egesa Samuel, UBSA finance director Kyewalabye Joel and referee Chestit Hakim.
UBSA vice chairperson – Sseguya Peter
FUFA deputy CEO – Kiiza Decolas, director of football development at FUFA Ali Mwebe, Uganda premier league chief executive officer Benard Bainamani Bampaire and the executive secretary of football development at FUFA Ronnie Kalema will be the instructors for the three days course that end on Saturday.
They will take the participants through various modules which include; football statutes, regulations and importance, football competitions, match organizations, laws of the game, football protection, communication, to mention but a few.
The football administration and management course level one (FAMACO1) that has been ongoing at FUFA SIG offices in Mengo, has successfully ended.
Ex international Geoffrey Buhokore (right) receiving his certificate from Mr. Ronnie Kalema
Uganda Beach Soccer Association (UBSA) organized the three days training and around 40 participants in class one, graduated as football managers and administrators on Wednesday.
UBSA chairman Deo Mutabazi congratulating one of the participants
The course attracted football enthusiasts from different parts of Uganda and prominent among them were SC Villa chief executive officer William Nkemba, club legend Geoffrey Buhokore and Bukedde TV journalist Becky Cynthia Nakimera.
SC Villa CEO William Nkemba (right) is now a FAMACO1 graduate
“I see a better way of doing things at SC Villa because of the course we have attended,” Eng. William Nkemba said after completing the course.
“It has been good that we have also participated together with some of the fans’ leadership and I believe there will be a better interaction of things, a better understanding of the roles and responsibilities of each of the individuals at the club.”
“We have seen a difference in the way we administer and handle matters at the club especially administratively and the way we manage the entire club as a whole.”
“I believe it’s now going to be easier in the way we conduct business.”
Becky Cynthia Nakimera
The executive secretary of football development at FUFA represented the FUFA president as the guest of honor at the closing function, and in his remarks, Kalema advised the participants to focus on learning more and seeking knowledge whenever an opportunity to do so arises.
“I bring you greetings from the FUFA president Eng. Moses Magogo,” he started.
“I shared some of your pictures on Monday and the entire football fraternity is very happy that you can leave your work places and come here for knowledge.”
“We are now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and we are very sure we shall become the number one footballing nation in Africa.”
“But don’t go out there and say you are an encyclopedia now. The game of football is very wide.”
“I encourage you to enroll for FAMACOII if that time comes so that you can understand the game of football in its elicit nature.”
“With the powers I have, I want to take this opportunity to confirm you as FAMACOI graduates.”
Female participants spiced the occasion with smiles
UBSA chairman Deo Mutabazi used this chance to enlighten the participants about the UBSA activities and the game of beach soccer in Uganda. UBSA delegate Anthony Tumwesigye also attended the closing ceremony.
Mr.Deo Mutabazi sharing a light moment with SC Villa CEO
FUFA deputy CEO – Kiiza Decolas, director of football development at FUFA Ali Mwebe, Uganda premier league chief executive officer – Benard Bainamani Bampaire and Ronnie Kalema were the instructors for this course. Class two of the same course starts Thursday (tomorrow) and will end on Saturday at the same venue.
