Obua asks parents to support children in sports

State Sports Minister Hamson Obua has advised parents to allow their children to seek both academic and sporting excellence as they pursue their education.

The minister was addressing the executive of the Association University Sport of Uganda during his visit to their offices on Friday.

"Let's not sit on the God-given talent of our children. In order for education to be a hundred percent effective we must balance both academics and extracurricular activities.

"We must revive and rejuvenate sports in primary schools; secondary schools, reach private schools without playgrounds because at least the universities have designated places for sports," Obua said before hailing universities for harnessing both academic and sports at their respective universities.

"Most parents are now concentrating on academic excellence at the expense of co-curricular activities, but Sport is also an avenue for income you can also achieve through sports."

He said the ministry would be able to advise in future that private schools looking to start schools to be asked to have sports facilities as a requirement before they are licensed.

Giving himself as an example, Obua said he recent appointment as minister could have come due to his connections with sport.

"I might be a minister now but I was once a sportsman, a debater, and a scout; but in most cases parents are bent on academics. But they could be killing natural talent, because most of the most successful people in the world now are sportsmen," Obua noted.

In response to their plea of increased funding, the minister advised AUUS to look for opportunities for sponsorships to their different sports activities on top of the government support.

Obua also took time to remind the sporting fraternity and the public to abide by the presidential pronouncement on the Coronavirus.