Buddo SS, having previously beaten St Mary’s Kitende 27-25 at the 2025 National Ball Games II in Tororo, was unable to replicate that success, falling 22-18 to the Kitende team in the current competition.
Teopisata Aceng, captain of the St Mary’s Boarding School Kitende netball team, attributes her side’s victory over a formidable Buddo SS in this year’s national championships, which concluded on Thursday, July 16, 2026, to their unity and faith in the team’s strategy.
“It was a tough game because St Mary’s Kitende came with a lot of energy, which we struggled to put them off in the second quarter. We stayed together, trusted our system, and fought until the end,” Aceng stated, following her team’s inspiring win in the netball finals held at Gulu High School in Gulu City on Friday.
Aceng indicated that the team’s subsequent goal is to defend the international trophy they secured at the FEASSSA Games in Kakamega, with the squad scheduled to compete in Morogoro, Tanzania, between August 12 and 23.
The national championship, conducted from July 8 to 17 and jointly hosted by Sacred Heart Girls SS and Gulu High School, witnessed numerous schools securing championship titles across a range of sports.
Notable champions included St Mary’s Boarding School, Bukedea Comprehensive School, Mbogo High School, Wampeewo Ntake, St Noa Girls, and Nkoma SS.
St Mary’s Boarding School stood out as the top performer at the USSSA Ball Games II and Athletics FEASSA Qualifiers, securing three total trophies in netball, basketball, and woodball. The event drew 10,181 athletes participating in 25 different sports, such as netball, volleyball, handball, rugby 7s, basketball 3×3, and athletics.
Additional prominent winners featured Amus College School, which earned the CAF Football trophy for both boys and girls, along with the U-15 girls handball trophy, while Wampewo Ntake secured the boys’ trophy. Empower International Academy claimed lacrosse gold medals for boys, with Bombo Army winning the girls’ division. St Henry’s College Kitovu and St Andrew Kagwa were awarded chess trophies for boys and girls, respectively.
Rev. Jabuloni Isoke Memorial College and Wampeewo Ntake were victorious in scrabble, while Mukono King’s High School and Standard High School Zaana captured the beach soccer championships. Makerere College School and Jinja SS triumphed in rugby 7s for boys and girls, respectively.
For athletics, Acholi Zone secured the top spot with 287 points, with Bukedi Zone coming in second with 211 points, and Sebei Zone placing third with 120 points.
Duncans Mugumya, the Commissioner of Physical Education and Sports at USSSA, officially concluded the event, speaking as a representative for the Minister of State for Sports, Peter Ogwang. Mugumya praised the games for adhering to the Ministry of Education and Sports’ directives regarding the participation of legitimate athletes throughout the championship.
“We are happy to see you develop new talents. We have done our level best to ensure that every learner gets involved in sports,” he stated.
Justas Mugisha of USSSA urged athletes to uphold discipline, emphasizing its importance for their prospective careers.
“Discipline has been good despite a few cases that were well handled by the disciplinary committee. We are working so hard to eliminate non-bonafide players so that we can only have genuine players,” Mugisha further commented.
The leading three schools in each discipline, for both genders, received medals (gold, silver, and bronze), while champions were presented with trophies, and individual Most Valuable Players (MVPs) for each sport were also awarded medals.
