Tugende 2026: competition and connection

Tugende 2026 brought competition, coaching, officiating, and international exchange together at MTN Arena Lugogo in Kampala. The federation's programme covered 3-7 August, with media reporting the five-a-side competition from 5-7 August.

NBS Sport described teams from Kampala, Wakiso, and Gulu alongside the visiting Welsh side. The tournament offered competitive minutes for established players and a chance to identify athletes who could form part of a future national-team pathway.

Competition with a benchmark

New Vision reported that Wales defeated Gulu 32-9 in the final. A combined Uganda selection later pushed the visitors to a 24-21 result in an international friendly, offering a more direct measure of what Ugandan players had learned against opponents with European experience.

Those scores are media-reported results. UWRF can provide the complete official results record by enquiry. The more lasting measure is whether athletes gained clearer roles, better decision-making, and a stronger reason to keep training after the visitors left.

Technical learning around the tournament

Welsh coaches supported coaching and refereeing clinics before and during the programme. Developing officials and local coaches alongside players helps knowledge stay in Uganda and allows future competitions to be organised with greater consistency.

New Vision also reported a donation of two rugby wheelchairs, an electronic scoreboard, gloves, strings, medicine, and other equipment. Each item answers a practical barrier, but the national programme still needs more competition chairs, maintenance capacity, accessible venues, transport, and reliable annual funding.

A championship designed to continue

UWRF intends Tugende to be an annual platform for Ugandan clubs, international friendship, and athlete development. We thank the visiting players, local clubs, organisers, volunteers, institutions, and partners who helped make the 2026 programme possible.

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