MTN Uganda has today handed over the first set of football kits to eight local football clubs in Kampala to further support sports development in Uganda. These 135 kits given to the eight football clubs form part of the Grassroots Football Development Program where the telecom will support 66 local football teams countrywide with kits.
The initiative was announced in December 2017. Today, the first of these kits were handed over to club representatives of Nsambya FC, Ggaba Fisheries FC, Lusaka Soccer Academy, Banda FC, Banda Stars, Riders FC, Jaguar FC and Kyebando United FC at the MTN Service Center in Ntinda.
“In this initiative, clubs will receive football uniforms and soccer balls in order to enhance their football experience. These clubs are engaged in grassroots football and not play in any of the organized national league tournaments. They are essentially the first step in nurturing football talent in Kampala,” said MTN Area Account Manager for Kampala Central, Ms. Erinah Kanyange Mutumba at the handover of the kits.
The Grassroots program was envisaged after MTN Uganda Senior officials noticed there were lots of local, village teams playing with promise, participating and excelling in local tournaments but lacked the basic football kits like a team jersey or even a standard soccer ball. Erinah noted that they had identified these eight clubs in Kampala Central region, who showed signs of having talented football players and continued to show promise since they have been participating in several football tournaments in the region.
“They do not have a regular source of income but almost every weekend, they have football tournaments they participate in but without proper football kits. It is therefore our hope that through this program more local footballers will be discovered by the larger clubs and eventually play for the national team” she added.
The Grassroots Development Initiative will see at least 900 football kits given out to 66 football clubs around the country. This annual initiative forms part of MTN’s continued support to sports in country, through sponsorship of two major football clubs and athletics in the country.
“We would like to thank MTN Uganda for this support that will go a long way in ensuring that we look smart and are able to now focus on playing football instead of having to look around for football jerseys and equipment. Grassroots football is the beginning of some, if not most, of our professional footballers that ply their trade both here for the national team and in top flight leagues abroad,” said Abdu Mukwaya, the Team Manager of Banda FC, one of the beneficiaries of the football kits from MTN Uganda.
MTN will be handing over football kits to football teams countrywide during the next weeks of this year.
