Fresh Dairy Games atract massive participation
Mar 04, 2020
The games are part of Fresh Dairy’s sh3b five-year sponsorship aimed at boosting sports in secondary schools across the country.
SECONDARY SCHOOLS GAMES
St. Mary's Secondary School Kitende, Kawempe Muslim School, Mbogo Mixed, Kakungulu Memorial, Mbogo College, Mbogo High, and Budo Secondary Schools will be the school teams to beat in this year's Fresh Dairy Secondary Schools Games launched at the St. Mary's Stadium Kitende on Tuesday.
St.Mary's are the defending champions in basketball (girls) while Kawempe Muslim and Budo SS will try to defend the football (girls) and basketball (boys) in the annual championship that starts with district qualifiers on Friday.
The Mbogo schools; Mbogo Mixed, Mbogo College and Mbogo High will look to defend the Table Tennis (girls), TT (boys), and badminton (girls) respectively while Kibuli SS and Kakungulu Memorial SS will try to win back Tennis, Badminton and the Hockey (girls) competitions respectively.
Sports Commissioner in the Ministry of Education and Sports Omara Apita advised students and teachers during the launch to embrace the new school curriculum that encourages both academic and sports excellence.
He said the new curriculum will promote the different talents to their full potential, allowing students to develop their God-given talents.
"Physical Education is the foundation of sports and it is going to be compulsory. We want our students to be good in both co-curricular activities and academics and I encourage you to adopt the new curriculum," Apita who represented State Sports Minister Denis Obua said.
He advised the officials and students to adhere to the rules and regulations of the competitions but also exhibit sportsmanship, honesty and fair play at all times.
The games start with the qualification rounds in the Uganda Secondary Schools Sports Association (USSSA) sports districts before the zonal qualifiers, April 1-19 and ahead of the national finals, May 1-10, at St. Joseph Layibi and Sacred Heart SS in Gulu.
The games are part of Fresh Diary's sh3b five-year sponsorship aimed at boosting sports in secondary schools across the country.
"Fresh Diary's sponsorship essentially serves to nurture the sporting talent of our youth while highlighting the need for health and nutrition using our products," Fresh Dairy Marketing Manager Vincent Omoth said.
He said this year's sponsorship will go towards kitting every team with each player getting 2 sets of kits during the national finals, publicity, branding, activations in the regions and administrative costs including trophies, medals, and certificates.
As part of the 2019 Fresh Diary Secondary School Games, the best performing students in basketball (2) and rugby (1) who scored at least 19 points in their UACE exams will enjoy scholarships at university courtesy of Fresh Diary.
The president USSSA Patrick Okanya said there is an increase in participation following the sponsorship but that the number of disciplines to be contested in remain seven.
He said 48 teams (boys and girls) will compete in basketball, 32 in girls football (U-20), 12 in rugby 15s, 24 in hockey, table tennis, badminton and tennis (both in boys and girls) categories.