Regional league side Young Elephants FC has been crowned as the champions of the 2022 Nwoya TotalEnergies Exploration Uganda Mini League concluded on August 27 at Anaka primary school pitch in Anaka Town Council, Nwoya District.
The two first half goals of the finals were enough for the Purongo sub-county-based team to seal the victory over the Black Tiger Wilacic of Lii sub-county.
Young Elephants were awarded a trophy, a bull and a sponsorship by the giant oil company to the regional league 2023.
Stephen Kidega, Young Elephants the team captain, commented on the opportunity.
“Football helps a lot in building unity, fitness and most importantly, keeping the youths away from being idle and committing crimes,” said Kidega.
He attributed their win to team work and hard training with a key focus on grabbing the TotalEnergies sponsorship opportunity.
“Our team won because we prepared for it by having gone through technical and tactical training that helped us (players) to stay in shape throughout the tournament.”
Kidega added that the sponsorship deal will go a long way in addressing their long time financial struggles which he said has been a setback in achieving their target of gaining promotion to high ranking Federation of Uganda Football Association (FUFA) competitions.
Speaking at the closing ceremony, Edgar Watson, the FUFA Chief Executive Officer, hailed TotalEnergies for the positive gesture towards sports promotion and pledged total commitment to the competition and, accordingly, asked both fans and players to desist from bad behaviours that destroy football and getting sponsorships.
“We should avoid thinking that which can do away with sponsorship among which are hooliganism, using drugs and alcoholism,” said Watson.
Watson noted that FUFA will do all it takes to promote sports at the district level through collaboration with its local structure of the district football association.
Christopher Ocowun, the Public Relations Coordinator for TotalEnergies EP Uganda, congratulated the finalists on their great show of talent and sportsmanship in the final.
“I particularly want to congratulate Young Elephants FC for emerging winner of the competition that will enable them to embark on a new journey as part of the 5th Division of the 2023 FUFA League. We are excited to support you on this journey because as you know, our aim is to provide a platform for the development of such talent.” said Ocowun.
“We continue to identify ways in which, together with our host communities, we can enhance the visibility and potential of our talented youth so that they can get the support needed to embark on fulfilling professional and development activities.” He added.
Sixteen football clubs selected from all the sub-counties in the district participated in the competition in partnership with Nwoya District Football Association and FUFA.
Other teams that participated in the league included Lisbon FC, Rainbow FC, Galaxy FC, Utoda FC, Nwoya United FC, WII Got FC, Labala FC, The Cranes FC, Northern Rock FC, Kinene Young FC, The Eagles FC and Golden Memory FC.
Players who received prizes included Morris Ayella – Young Elephants FC, as Man of the Match (Finals), Young Elephants FC’s Anthony Mathias as the best goalkeeper, Jeremy Rwothomio, Wi Got FC as best young talent, Kinene Young Generation FC as the Most Disciplined Team and Morris Ayella of Young Elephant FC as the Best Player.
Others were Young Elephants FC’s Morris Ayella, as top scorer, Joel Ocora of Black Tiger Wilacic FC as the best midfielder and Joel Oluba of Black Tiger Wilacic FC as Best Defender.
All teams and individual players also received certificates.
