The 2026 Buganda Schools Competitions officially kicked off on a wet Thursday evening, March 12, at Kawanda Secondary School grounds in Wakiso District, with Greenlight Islamic Secondary School–Nansana defeating hosts Kawanda 2–0 in an exciting official opening football clash.
Played on a soggy surface before a large crowd of home and visiting spectators, Greenlight rose above the difficult conditions to secure victory.
Simon Okwi and Mark Dandali scored the decisive goals for the side coached by Edward Ssozi.
Speaking after the match, Ssozi praised his players for their resilience on what he described as an “unplayable surface.” He noted that despite advancing to the knockout stage with a perfect record—winning all three group matches, including a hard-fought 1–0 victory over High Way Secondary School Kiganda—the team must remain focused for the tougher phase ahead.
“I hail my boys for the performance on a very unplayable surface. We have stormed the knockout stages, but it’s the most hard stage of any competition and we need to stay focused.” — Edward Ssozi
The tournament’s official opening was presided over by the Buganda Minister for Youth, Sports and Arts, Ssalongo Robert Sserwanga in company of Uganda Secondary Schools Sports Association (USSSA) CEO Christopher Banage who urged participants to embrace discipline, resilience and hard work.
“By all taking part in the championship, we are already winners. What will differ the rest from others is discipline, resilience and hard work.
Be disciplined if you want to achieve and always be resilient and work hard for success.” — Ssalongo Robert Sserwanga
The championship, which began on March 11, will climax on March 15 at Kawanda Secondary School.
This year’s edition has attracted 3,500 compared to last year’s 1500 students competing in football, netball, basketball, volleyball, badminton, chess, Scrabble and handball.
