Uganda, Kenya share Lacrosse 7s spoils

East Africa Lacrosse 7s Finals

Boys U19: Uganda 9 Kenya 2

Girls U19: Uganda 1 Kenya 3

Kevin Dugan is one American man playing the long game of establishing Lacrosse in Uganda.

Dugan is the founder of Fields of Growth, an international organization that aims at scouting and developing athletes mainly in college and high school in different sports including Lacrosse, basketball, football, volleyball among others.

He together with other volunteers have established structures in Uganda, East Africa and Jamaica as they look to deeply root lacrosse and other sports in developing countries.

On Lacrosse in Uganda, Dugan who has been working with the Lacrosse Association in Uganda since 2010 has started to see some genuine progress.

"I can confidently state that Lacrosse is not where it used to be five years ago. More people have embraced the game and numbers keep us moving forward and we are looking at having more volunteers. The future of the sport is bright here" He said.

On Saturday at Makerere Rugby Grounds, fields of growth teamed up with Uganda Lacrosse to host the first ever East Africa Lacrosse 7s tournament that attracted teams from Kenya and Uganda. A mixed sex select side from the United States also featured for exhibition games.

The U19 girls and boys categories were the main attractions in the one day event that is set to become annual.

Uganda's girls were beaten in the final by Kenya in a reversal of roles. Photo by Kasozi Balikuddembe

The tournament's top scorer, Reagan Ochan scored four goals for the Uganda U19s as they routed their Kenyan counterparts 9-2 in the final to win the trophy.

Francis Obote was also on the mark with a hattrick with Francis Odong and Ibra Mwanja picking one goal apiece. Kevin Mwambu scored the consolation goals for the Kenyan outfit who came up short.

"We thought we could perform better than this but surprisingly Uganda is such a strong side" said Peter Punde the Kenya Lacrosse president. 

In the girls final, Faith Shitote scored three goals as her side threw a spanner in the works of Uganda who could only manage one goal.