Karamoja Zone’s medal drought at USSSA Ball Games II blamed on inadequate preparations

14 July 2026, 1:53 pm

By Proper Gibolo

Karamoja Zone’s poor performance in the ongoing 2026 Uganda Secondary Schools Sports Association (USSSA) Ball Games II Championship has been attributed to inadequate preparations.

Karamoja Zone is represented by Morulem Girls’ SS, Moroto High School and Lotuke Seed SS in a 9-day Championship hosted by Sacred Heart Girl’s SS in Gulu City.

This years’ Competition which kicked off on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, and concludes this Friday, has attracted 10, 181 athletes zones comprising 6, 142 boys and 4,039 girls from 19 zones competing in various sporting disciplines.

Though Zones like Acholi, Sebei, Teso, Bunyoro, Bukedi, and Lango have scooped medals in various sports disciplines, Karamoja zone, competing in Volleyball, Netball and Athletics is yet to win any medal.

By Tuesday, July 14 2026, Acholi Zone was leading the medal standings with seven medals won in Javelin, discus, 100 meters and 200 meters.

Sensei, Teso, Bunyoro, Bukedi, and Lango Zones followed with five, four, three and one medal respectively.

In boys’ 100 meters final, Regan Duro Ocora of Acholi Zone underlined his determination by clocking 11.32 seconds to beat Saman Adam Okema of Bukedi zone, who finished second in 11.66, while Walter Olinga, of Teso zone claimed bronze with 11.84 seconds.

In the girls: 100 meters final, Tracy Nakubuya of Mpigi Zone, produced a master class performance to defeat Agnes Achan of Lango Zone, winning in 12.7 seconds compared to Achan’s 13.4 seconds , while Naume Ayeerwot of Acholi Zone finished third in 13.6 seconds.

Karamoja zone currently at position 13 out of the 19 zones, the according to preliminary zonal rankings.

Moses Alou the games and sports teacher Lotuke Seeds SS, who doubles as head of delegation for Karamoja zone, told our reporter on phone that their athletes didn’t have enough training in preparation for the competitions.

He said that the selected participants had training for only one week, which is not enough to prepare them to compete with athletes from other schools who trained regularly.

USSSA Chief executive officer Christopher Mugisha Bandage said the nine-day championship will be used to identify schools and athletes who will represent Uganda at the Federation of East Africa Secondary Schools Sports Association (FEASSA) Games in Kakamega, Kenya.