Hoima to host Uganda’s first National Sports Academy as NCS hands over Sir Tito Winy site

Uganda has taken a major step towards establishing its first-ever National Sports Academy after the National Council of Sports (NCS) received the Sir Tito Winy site from the Church of Uganda and handed it over to the UPDF Engineering Brigade for immediate development.

The 100-acre site in Hoima will initially be developed as one of the training facilities for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), but government plans to transform it into a long-term national centre for identifying, nurturing and developing sporting talent.

The handover marks a significant milestone in Uganda’s preparations for AFCON 2027 and its broader ambitions to establish a structured pathway for producing elite athletes.

NCS Board Chairman Ambrose Tashobya, who presided over the ceremony on behalf of the Minister of State for Sports, described the academy as one of the most important sports infrastructure projects currently being developed in the country.

“This will be the most important of all the facilities that are being concurrently developed across the country at the moment,” Tashobya said.

Shs17.08bn first phase

The first phase of development is estimated to cost Shs17.081 billion and will primarily provide a training ground for AFCON 2027.

The planned facility will include three floodlit grass pitches, an artificial turf, a running track, a multipurpose hall with changing rooms, a powerhouse, ICT installations, parking facilities and access roads, among other infrastructure.

However, the long-term vision extends far beyond the continental football tournament.

Once AFCON 2027 is concluded, the facility is expected to evolve into a national sports academy providing specialised training and development opportunities for athletes across different disciplines.

The academy will target sports including football, rugby, athletics and indoor and outdoor disciplines, while also providing opportunities for training coaches and other technical personnel supporting athletes and teams.

Building a talent pipeline

Tashobya, a former national basketball player, said the academy would form part of a deliberate strategy to establish a pipeline for identifying and nurturing talented young Ugandans.

He revealed plans to establish an education centre within the academy, linking sporting development with academic and professional training.

He also challenged Sir Tito Winy Secondary School to position itself as a school of sports excellence by identifying promising young athletes from Hoima, the wider Bunyoro region and other parts of Uganda.

The school could eventually serve as one of the institutions feeding talented youngsters into the national academy.

The approach is intended to ensure that the investment does not simply produce sports facilities but creates a sustainable system for developing athletes from grassroots level to elite competition.

NCS General Secretary Dr Bernard Patrick Ogwel said the government remains interested in acquiring additional land from the Church of Uganda if more acreage becomes available.

NCS has currently secured 100 acres from the wider Sir Tito Winy landholding.

UPDF given six-month construction target

The UPDF Engineering Brigade has been tasked with developing the initial training facilities, with the team led by Lt. Col. Eng. Seku Kidemuka committing to completing the work within six months.

The construction will be supervised by the Ministry of Works and Transport, represented at the handover by Eng. Henry Lubega.

The AFCON Secretariat was represented by Dennis Kiberu, responsible for infrastructure, and Hamzah Nsereko, handling media and operations.

The accelerated construction schedule reflects the urgency surrounding Uganda’s preparations for the 2027 continental tournament, which the country will co-host.

The Sir Tito Winy project is part of a wider programme to develop and upgrade training facilities across Uganda ahead of AFCON 2027.

The UPDF Engineering Brigade received the Kadiba Stadium in Kampala a day earlier for similar development works.

Engineering teams are also working on facilities at Kyambogo University and Makerere University, which form part of the Namboole cluster, as well as Boma Grounds and Masindi under the Hoima City Stadium cluster.

Other facilities being developed include Lira University, Gulu University and Pece Stadium, which fall under the Akii-Bua Olympic Stadium cluster.

The infrastructure programme is designed to ensure that Uganda has adequate training venues and supporting facilities when it hosts AFCON 2027 alongside its co-hosts.

Beyond AFCON 2027

While the immediate focus is on preparing training facilities for the tournament, officials see the Sir Tito Winy project as one of the lasting legacies of AFCON 2027.

The proposed academy could provide Uganda with a centralised environment where athletes receive specialised coaching, technical support and education while developing towards elite competition.

For a country that has produced internationally recognised athletes across football, athletics, boxing and other sports, the establishment of a national academy could help create a more coordinated talent identification and development system.

The investment in Hoima could also give Bunyoro and the wider Albertine region a major sports development hub, creating opportunities for young people to pursue competitive sport while contributing to the growth of the local sports economy.

The handover therefore represents more than the start of another AFCON construction project. It marks the beginning of what NCS hopes will become Uganda’s first national institution dedicated to systematically developing the next generation of elite athletes.