By Beinomugisha Fredrick
David Katureebe Foundation, a nonprofit initiative based in Rubirizi District is exclusively committed to investing in sports in Rubirizi District by organizing an annual soccer tournament, donating sports equipment and all accessories to organized football teams and the organization celebrates the success of the recent DKF football tournament which concluded this December with a major aim of reviving football and talent identification by rejuvenating the soccer spirits in Rubirizi District.
Rubirizi like other districts in Uganda faces the challenge of inadequate human capital investment. This is amidst a substantial growth in the number of young people.
And I have always argued that the most assets of this young district may not only be the value in its splendid nature of wonderful parks, lakes, forests etcetera…, but hugely in the full utilization of the energy of its young people, desisting from idleness of this overwhelming population and laying a concerted plan for them – not only about education and development but an inclusive health plan that goes beyond the health system to include sports and creative Arts.
When the population of the young bulge and unfortunately with high unemployment rates, the society must be worried and burdened by what kind of crime that forms into the minds of these people.
Therefore, from this parable: – “mind your young, or they will trouble you in your old age,” DK-Foundation thought it was not only necessary for entertainment to organize the recent concluded football tournament in Rubirizi District but alongside utilizing sports as a health remedy, the organization aims at commercializing the sports talent and helping to spot and discover young talent then train, guide and support to link them to the limelight of the sports market. So, while Rubirizi District labors to invest in Agriculture and Tourism as the most probable cash cow fields, some private responsible body must consider a tremendous effort in sports and creative Arts as a third force and that’s what DK-Foundation is doing.
DKF aims at maintaining this well-structured football tournament an annual program and is convinced that it will continue rendering benefits and positive experiences for the young people. While people are having fun participating in sports they are also building character and learning to work as a team. And, most people think that the benefits of sports are only physical. Sports are more than just developing hand-eye coordination and burning calories, sports provide many developmental benefits, physical benefits, and psychological benefits. For example, there was an economic boost during the period of this concluded DK-Foundation football tournament in Rubirizi District.
In addition to an improved physical health, sports play a positive role in the development of young people. Studies show that the 5 Cs – competence, confidence, connections, character and caring – develop positively through the participation in sports at a young age and hence, while the young people were locked down in the COVID 19 pandemic, the organization thought that they were idle and psychologically demented so something like this was timely and very necessary.
To remind you, since way back the active days of sports in the greater Bunyaruguru, these activities have always provided great entertainment for audiences. For example, the memorial football match between Bunyaruguru Tigers and Bushenyi United at Nyakasanga playground in 1994 when an overwhelming people drove to Kasese to see their team play. Thusly, sports acts as a unifying factor of a divided society where even elders would fail to reconcile – but sports does. This entertainment provided by these sporting activities ensures people spend their free time progressively instead of wasting it on activities that will in the end not add any value to their lives.
The organization fears that obesity has reached worrying proportions and this is a particular concern to health experts especially since this is caused by an increased rate of inactivity among the young people. The childhood obesity rates which currently stand at approximately 15% are an increase of over 40% through the past 40 years.
Childhood obesity is not only a cause of health problems at the present in the form of Type II diabetes but due to its relation to adult obesity, these individuals are likely to become struggling adults with obesity if they do not change their sedentary lifestyles. By engaging in sports activities especially for the purposes of having fun, these children will not only enjoy themselves but they will also have the added advantage of working their way to a better lifestyle that will improve their health.
The director DKF believes that sports does not only create employment opportunities for the participants, even off the field, there are team managers, tacticians, fitness experts, dietary advisors and a whole lot of other experts who benefit from the youth’s involvement in sports. And that the organization invested a lot in facilitating a team of professional managers and coaches to train all organized football teams before the tournament had commenced. Jobs are created for grounds men who have to ensure football pitches have been maintained to the required standards, the referees, umpires and other officials whose duty it is to ensure that the rules and regulations governing the various games are followed, and to ensure that order is maintained. These are just a few of the beneficiaries of youth engaging in sports, but it is therefore true to say youth and sports are employers to very many individuals all over the District.
When engaging in sports that are physical in nature, an individual has to be in shape and physical fitness will be a quality that will determine winners and losers. The fitness expectations will make an individual to live a healthy lifestyle, eating healthy foods, doing physical activities that will better make them able to compete well. Sports therefore encourages healthy lifestyles among the youth and leads to the development of a better society of healthy people.
Conclusively, DKF organization is convinced that whether sports are taken as a health cause or an entertainment factor, the need for Rubirizi to consider an organized sports plan is so dire as would be the need to invest in Agriculture, Tourism, and Education. Remember, true enjoyment comes from activity of the mind and exercise of the body; the two are ever united.
Beinomugisha Fredrick is a local opinionist in Bunyauguru and founder at Rubirizi Edition Magazine. beinfredrick@gmail.com 0781871270
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