Welden School Mbarara is the undisputed champion of the Uganda Secondary Schools Sports Association (USSSA) Ankole zone boys’ football, following a 2-0 win over St Kagwa Bushenyi High School in the final played at Ibanda CORE PTC grounds on Sunday.

The two sides that were meeting at this stage for the first time, had registered emphatic semifinal wins with Welden seeing off record winners Ryakasinga CHE 2-0 and St Kagwa walloping young side St Augustine Minor seminary 6-0 in the other one-sided semifinal.

PES Commissioner Rev. Can. Duncans Mugumya hands Welden Captain Daglous Ssemambo and proprietor Yasin Mugabe, the trophy

And when the whistle for kick-off went, Welden School vying for their first major title after the re-unification of greater Bushenyi and greater Mbarara for Ankole zone, looked the better side as their flowing and intelligent play kept their opponents at the receiving end at most spells of the encounter.

At the stroke of halftime, Hussein Barrack found the net with a clever finish that gave the St Kagwa goalie no chance before tireless Hannington Ayirwoth sealed the win with a cool finish after Barrack’s spadework late in the second half.

The official closing and awarding ceremony was presided over by Physical Education and Sports (PES) commissioner Rev. Can. Duncans Mugumya.

According to zonal chairman Egidio Mucunguzi, 5 teams Mayanga Seed, Unique High, Kicwamba High, Buremba SS, and Muntuyera High Kitunga were disqualified for fielding different categories of ineligible players, a habit which Commissioner Duncans rebuked.

“By the new sports law, we shall be compelled to apprehend the players in question, the games teacher, and the head teacher for helping impersonation in school’s games. We can not allow nonstudents into the school sports to give the young ones a chance to develop their talents,” Mugumya said.

“I am going to direct that any executive member of USSSA at any level of USSSA administration, whose school is found with ineligible players, resigns his position or be forced out of the committee with immediate effect because they have no moral authority to lead the immoral for a blind man can not be guided by another blind man, it's biblical.”

The commissioner thanked Yasin Mugabe, the Welden School proprietor as a private institution that has come out strongly to partner with the government in talent identification and development.

Champions Welden School and losing finalists St Kagwa will be joined by Ryakasinga CHE and St Augustine Minor Seminary as the four representatives for Ankole zone at this year’s edition of the USSSA national boys’ football championship due at Masaka SS starting end of this month.

USSSA Ankole Zone boys’ football selected results

Finals

Welden School 2 St Kagwa 0

Semis

Welden School 2 Ryakasinga 0

St Kagwa 6 St Augustine 0