By Victor Turinawe.
As Uganda Christian University (UCU) gears up for the highly blistering five-day Association of Ugandan University Sports (AUUS) games tournament, preparations continue in terms of sport facility renovations and redevelopment.
Hosting these games will mark UCU as the first institution in Uganda to host the AUUS Games four times, having previously hosted in 2007, 2013, 2023, and now 2025.
Head of Sports department at UCU Samuel David Lukaire gave an update about the progress on infrastructure renovation and redevelopment, where most of them are in final stages across various sports facilities. Tennis and basketball courts are at approximately 90% completion, awaiting final touches.
For the netball court, it is still in its earlier stages at about 30% completion, though the team is optimistic that within a week, progress will reach 70–80% once the floor and other components are completed.
“We are hoping to feature 18 teams in sports and about 34 teams in total across both the men’s and women’s categories,” Lukaire stated.
Aside from the structural preparations, Lukaire commented on the athlete preparations for the forthcoming games
“The students are currently sitting for exams, so training is limited to short one-hour sessions for those who can manage. However, mentally and physically, the teams are in good shape,” he added.
Full training is expected to resume after exams on the 12th, giving athletes five intensive days to fine-tune their performance ahead of the competition.
Regarding participation from regional campuses, officials mentioned that turnout is likely to be low due to timing and preparedness.
These aspects remain key challenges, as seen previously in 2023 when many campuses struggled to field competitive teams or integrate into regular training schedules.
According to officials, registration of players is ongoing, and the institution expects to field a strong contingent across multiple disciplines for the upcoming inter-university games scheduled to run from December 18th to 23rd.
“As an organisation, we believe we have done our best. Everything will be ready by the time the games begin,” Lukaire assured.
