By Ian Asabo
More than 3000 university student athletes are set to arrive at the 12th edition of the University East African Games, slated for December 16th to 21st, 2022.
As it stands, 48 schools are set to participate in 21 sporting disciplines in Luweero as the best athletes from all over East Africa compete for supremacy.
Athletics is set to be the biggest field represented, with 30 schools registering, both male and female.
Football is set to be represented by 28 teams for the men, while chess is represented by 22 teams for the women, the most for each category.
The hosts, Ndejje University, are set to field the most participants with 379 overall, while United States International University has registered 234 students and officials.
Proper facilities had been a worry for some students concerning the games, but AUUS general secretary Patrick Ssebuliba has credited and encouraged the government to invest in university sports.
“When the games are done, the facilities can be used as a national project that they replicate in all regions of the country,” he says.
The games are organized under the auspices of the Federation of East Africa University Sports (FEAUS), Ndejje University, and the Association of Uganda University Sports (AUUS).
The games are organized every two years in December of an even year with the participation of individual universities. However, due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, the university games didn’t happen in December 2020.