The tournament’s second edition was launched today in Mengo at the federation house, with eight teams drawn into groups A and B after they emerged winners from their respective regions.
With women’s football pulling attention lately in the local fanbase, this year’s championship will feature girls for the first time, following a decision by the FUFA Executive in 2019 . They are slated to play from the 27th August to 1st September.
The boys will play from 2nd to 9th September in the championship that will run from August 27th – September 9th, 2022 at the FUFA Technical Centre, Njeru.
“Odilo”, meaning “a ball” in the Luo dialect, is a strategic plan by FUFA President Hashim Magogo, to tap into the country’s raw talent and also get back to the ground level and introduce competitive football, according to Dr. Apollo Ahimbisibwe an Executive Committee member at the federation.
“Odilo is intended to get back to the ground and introduce competitive football to the underage categories with the aim of tapping young talents to prepare them become better footballers. It is one of the ways for implementing the FUFA strategic plan.” He said at a press meeting.
“We are glad to introduce the girls’ competition this year. We are looking forward to seeing more girls play football. We also recorded a 50% increment in the boys’ schools category. FUFA will meet all the expenses at the National Finals and will support fully the two winners representing Uganda at the East African Competitions in Tanzania.” He added.
In the boys tier, 2019’s Title defenders Rays of Grace P/S from Buganda region were drawn into group B along with North East’s Vision for Children Nursery and P/S, Eastern champions Bright View P/S and Modern Primary School from Kampala.
Group A will see Western’s Kibuli Islamic P/S battle for a first or second position against Paorihner Nursery and P/S from the North, Winners Academy P/S from Kitara and Vision Education center.
In the girls category, group A includes Ngora Girls P/S from the North East, Kivubuka P/S from the Eastern region, Habanom Quality Academy P/S from Kampala and Bombo UMEA P/S from Buganda region.
Group B girls; Nyakatooma III P/S (Western), Oasis P/S (West Nile), Otino Waa P/S (Northern) and Bwabya P/S from Kitara region.
The schools will play each half for twenty-five minutes with unlimited substitutions in a single round-robin format.
The top two teams in each group will then progress to the semifinals and the remaining teams will play their classification matches so players can get a chance to play more matches.
As a compulsory requirement, each player will be required to present a letter of consent from their parents, allowing them take part in the tournament.
