Badminton: UBA receives equipment for grassroots development

Badminton

Uganda Badminton Association (UBA) have more reason to kick-start the Shuttle Time schools program after they received training equipment from the international body-BWF.

The program intends to develop badminton at the grassroots and is among the new innovations on the local schools calendar, but according to UBA's CEO Simon Mugabi, the association did not have enough equipment to launch the training.

The items that include 560 rackets, 140 shuttles, 56 nets and 28 racket bags amounting to $4,156 about (sh15m) had been impounded at the customs offices at Entebbe because UBA needed about sh10m to clear the charges.

However, National Council of Sports cleared all the costs before handing over the consignment to UBA at a press conference at Lugogo, Kampala.

"We (NCS) need to be informed early before the donations are even shipped to helps us to plan for the possible financial support, but most federations only come to us after they have failed to get funds," NCS assistant general secretary David Katende said.

Katende later blamed most of the local sports bodies for the low growth of sports in the country adding that, "They should not wait until they are stranded with the donated equipment at the customs and later blame NCS for not giving financial support."

But he went ahead and applauded UBA's Mugabi for being transparent and appealed to other local federation heads to emulate the badminton CEO.