Written By | Alex Mbamanya
Madi-Okollo district collceted 3 trophies in SNE
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Mubende
The Uganda Primary Schools Sports Association (UPSSA) has taken a deliberate step towards improving the level of involvement and participation of children with special needs in sports across the country.
Over the years, the Special Needs Education (SNE) sports segment has attracted fewer participants and competing teams — a situation UPSSA President William Bwambale attributes to neglect by special needs officers employed by government at every local government in the country.
At this year's edition of the UPSSA national ball games in Mubende, UPSSA went a step further by training officers in a capacity-building programme to equip them with the knowledge and skills required to organise SNE competitions and handle children with special needs at the grassroots level.
Busia District collected 6 trophies after dominating the SNE category
Speaking as chief guest at the closing and awards ceremony for the SNE competitions in Mubende, Assistant Commissioner for Physical Education and Sports at the Ministry of Education and Sports, Sam Odong, announced that the government would make a deliberate effort to recruit sports officers responsible for special needs at every district, to ensure that all children with special needs are given the opportunity to participate in sports.
Ass. Commissioner Sam Odong hands Madi-Okollo the trophy
Education Officer in the Physical Education and Sports Department, Gilbert Orikiriza, affirmed that the SNE competition within the national ball games would have its own dedicated budget and programme.
At the awards ceremony, Busia District emerged overall winners, collecting six trophies after winning sitting volleyball in both boys and girls categories across the U12 and U14 age groups, in addition to winning Boccia for girls U12 and boys U14.
SNE winners get their trophies
Madi-Okollo came second with three trophies, winning Boccia girls U14, hearing impairment football boys U12, and hearing impairment football boys U14. Mityana, Mukono Municipality, Koboko, Mukono District, Arua, and Namayingo also won trophies and were awarded medals.
In other finals, Buvuma beat Kyotera 26–19 to win the netball U12 title, Amuria beat hosts Mubende 15–13 to claim the girls U14 handball crown, Jinja City beat Serere 3–0 to win the boys U12 volleyball title, and Ngora beat Kiira Municipality 3–0 to win the boys U14 volleyball crown, with Mbarara District beating Kumi 3–0 to claim bronze.
The games, which began on Tuesday last week, will climax tomorrow with the boys football finals and the official awards and closing ceremony.
