On Saturday, October 22nd, 2022, the Commonwealth Games Association of Uganda (CGAU), at its offices in Lugogo, Kampala, held a closing ceremony for the Game Changers initiative.
The Game Changers is a legacy programme of the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
The CGAU launched its inaugural Commonwealth Sports Schools Spirit Clubs initiative on Saturday, March 12th, 2022, which was aimed at having students in Uganda live the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) values including humanity, equality, and destiny through sports and physical activity.
The project reached out to a multitude of young secondary school-going people through thirty-two schools from the four regions of the country.
During the closing ceremony, recognition was given to the outstanding schools that had caused impactful change in their schools and communities. The schools that received a well-branded certificate of recognition and beautiful plaque were Nyakasura School (Western region), Mbogo High School (Central region), Teso College Aloet (Eastern region) and Sir Samuel Baker Secondary School (Northern region).
Lydia Gloria Dhamuzungu, the assistant general secretary of the CGAU and team leader of the Game Changer’s project, had this to say, “The Game Changer project helped in capacity building. We wish to appreciate the teachers and the schools that took part after a humble start. We started out with 32 schools and most actively, 22 implemented and started clubs. There are many game changers, such as nature conservation through nature walk, new sports being introduced. Invitations to the different sports federations to introduce their games.Through the value of destiny, it is interesting to see sportsmen take on the games as a career. Schools are the bedrock of sports in Uganda. They are academies of sports. Good utilisation of what is available. It is not business as usual, but rather business unusual. I appreciate the schools and students who are the change agents.”
Notably, as a result of the project, Nyakasura School established a successful sports spirit club and invited more than ten nearby educational institutions to participate in a sports administration course; increased community awareness of values through nature walks; and organised a values-based training workshop meeting.
Mbogo High School fully constituted its club, organized a physical fitness activity called drills where they invited nearby schools to be part of the event, composed a Commonwealth Game changers poem. The school organized “Spelling bee” contest for nearby primary schools in the community under the theme “Core values”. They also organized Poetry Competitions and participated in the Olympic day event inviting different stakeholders.
Teso College Aloet formed a sport spirit club, introduced new sport Dance Sport. The members of the club encouraged learners to actively participate in sports like Basketball, Volleyball, Rugby, and Badminton. The above schools and others committed to continue with the activities and make them annual events. The CGAU will continue to monitor these activities.
Sir Samuel Baker formed a sport spirit club, introduced new sport codes in the school, disseminated the CGF values at the National Ball Games II tournament in Lira.