For the last four or so years now, Uganda has been known for producing young talented footballers that simply need to be panel bitten for them to be transformed into more mature footballers that can cause a constructive change to Ugandan football. 

Unfortunately this has not has not been the case given that since 2005 when Mulindwa got to the helm of Fufa, Fufa had done little in regards to developing youth talent into positive maturity for the benefit of Ugandan football.

However, since 2009 when Mulindwa secured a second term in office they have concentrated their efforts to reviving youth soccer in the country. Various tournaments have been organised and where necessary, Fufa has been working together with other stakeholders or private companies to stage-up youth tournaments in the country which is likely to greatly contribute to the development of the potential talent amongst the youth in Uganda.

In the 90's, Uganda had a strong youth foundation in football that fed the teams in the national league with players and later the national team. It was such structures that were behind the emergency of players like Ibrahim Sekagya, David Obua and Hassan Mubiru among other players some of whom are currently playing for the Cranes.

It is recommendable that Fufa under Lawrence Mulindwa has moved to put efforts into youth tournaments because they are a great asset to the future of Ugandan football. We bring some of the recommendable ventures Fufa has undertaken to develop youth soccer in Uganda.

S.1&2 tournament
This is an annual tournament played at the end of second term; it was started last year when it was hosted in Mukono district and 30 schools competed. The second edition of the tournament was hosted at Kisubi Technical Institute, where 13 secondary schools took part.

The tournament only allows Ugandans less than 16 years who miss the opportunity to play in the post primary championship to participate in the tournament. This year's schools youth championship was won by St. Mary's Kitende after defeating Jinja SS 1-0.

The most exciting bit of it all is what FUFA president Lawrence Mulindwa said when handing over the trophy and the cash prize to the winners of the tournament.
"In this new term, we want to develop youth soccer." Mulindwa categorically stated.

U-17 and 20 national teams
Similarly, Uganda had never registered for CAF youth tournaments until this year when the federation registered two teams in CAF competitions. It registered the U17 team that eliminated Burundi and Zambia respectively but was later to be banned by CAF after it discovered that Uganda had fielded an over-aged player.

The U20 was eliminated by the Egyptians 2-1 on aggregates, played in CECAFA junior championship in Eritrea and will take part in the U-23 Olympics in London. blog comments powered by Disqus

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