Written By | Alex Mbamanya
Bukedea Comprehensive School won the boys football title
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Sports Desk
The Federation of East Africa Schools Sports Association (FEASSA) Games have always been more than just playing, puffing, competing, and joining the podium for celebration of success, but also a platform for sports tourism for athletes and officials across the member states.
For this year’s edition of the games, due in August, Ugandan athletes will experience more of the tourism aspect as they will be required to travel for over 24 hours, covering a distance of more than 1,500km to the host city of Morogoro in the eastern part of Tanzania.
ISF and FASS executive members were gifted with Kikuyu wear
It will be the first time the games are being hosted in Morogoro. Past editions in Tanzania were held in Dar es Salaam (2006 and 2015) and Arusha in 2019 and 2022, making Tanzania a host only four times in the last 22 years of the games’ history. Morogoro is a city located in the eastern part of Tanzania, approximately 196km west of Dar es Salaam, and serves as the capital of the Morogoro Region.
It is a prime destination for nature lovers and adventurers, anchored by the stunning Uluguru Mountains and national parks such as Mikumi and Udzungwa. Key attractions include scenic hiking in the Ulugurus, wildlife viewing, waterfalls like Choma and Hululu, and rich cultural experiences.
Morogoro is informally referred to as Mji Kasoro Bahari, which translates to “a city without an ocean or a port.”
Bukedea Comprehensive School won the boys football title
The FEASSA executive named Morogoro as hosts after the 22nd edition of the games, which were hosted in Kakamega, Kenya, last year.
The team, led by president Justus Mugisha, flew to Tanzania on Thursday for the first inspection of the hosting facilities ahead of the games, which will be staged between August and September.
“As is the norm at FEASSA, we always carry out several inspections of the hosting city before confirming it ready for our games. Therefore, we shall be in Morogoro for the same purpose, and since it is our first visit, we shall automatically give guidelines on what should be done and how it should be done before subsequent inspections,” Mugisha said.
PS Kedrase Turyagyenda and commissioner Duncans and other officials visited the Uganda teams during the FEASSA games
Despite the tourism advantage, Ugandan schools will find this edition more costly than previous ones, as the longer distance translates into higher expenditure on travel, fuel, and roadside dining.
In terms of distance, Morogoro is 1,534km from Kampala, which is approximately 24 hours and 30 minutes (about two days) by road. It is 1,311km from Mutukula, taking about 19 hours and 20 minutes (roughly one and a half days). Within Tanzania, one must drive for about 10 hours over 670km from Arusha, and about four hours over 195km from Dar es Salaam. Finally, it is a 22-hour drive (1,331km) from the Uganda–Rwanda border at Katuna to Morogoro.
Rugby-Jinja SS (red) lost in semis
These distances will demand extra costs for school teams travelling to the games, which will inflate their games budgets this year.
The Ugandan government, through the Ministry of Education and Sports, has been contributing half of the participation and registration fees per athlete for schools at this stage. It remains unclear whether there will be increased support beyond the original contribution this time.
This is quite different from other school teams from Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, and South Sudan, whose expenses at this level are fully met by their governments.
There have been cases of failed participation by several Ugandan schools that qualify for these games, simply because the expenditure at this stage is too high.
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