Sports has made a case, it’s time to listen 

The endless scramble for resources from the government might always leave some feeling aggrieved. The sports sub-sector is among the most aggrieved and often neglected. 
For context, there is hardly anything that showcases Uganda like sports does. Let’s take an example of just the past week.
Ugandan schools – Amus College and Royal Giant SSS – have been in Tanzania competing at the Pan-African Schools Championships.

READ: Kiplimo is 2023 World Cross-Country champion
This competition brings together the best schools from across the continent.
At home, five countries – South Sudan, Rwanda, Egypt and Kenya – joined Uganda for the Fiba Zone V Africa women’s Afrobasket qualifiers.

The Afrobasket is the equivalent of football’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).
Not far away in Kitende, Vipers hosted Horoya from Guinea in the Caf Champions League group stages on Saturday.
The biggest of the sports has got to be the World Athletics Cross Country Championships that were held in Bathurst, Australia on the same day.
These events come with television audiences in millions at a time when the world is competing for tourist numbers.
Only sports can give the Pearl of Africa the kind of leverage it needs to increase the number of visitors. 

Sports can open doors and windows for the outside world to learn about Uganda beyond the negative stories of the past.  Recently, renowned athletics commentator Rob Walker visited Uganda and spoke fondly of this country. 
He believes that the warmth of the people he finds here is what brings him back.  
Walker is a fanatic of the two once-in-a-generation athletics talents – Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo.  
Their success has brought quite a bond between Walker and this country. Speaking as a guest on NTV Uganda’s sports magazine, NTV Sport Knights, the British commentator spoke proudly of the value sports tourism can bring.
While these events may be significant and continental, there are a lot of other local sports events that bring together tens of thousands of Ugandans every week. 

Around these events is an economy we can no longer ignore. Beyond the sportsmen and women, there are so many who make a living off sports.  It has also become a routine for sports personalities to visit Parliament where you feel the debate to change the sub-sector should start.
Uganda still remains a country without any commendable sports infrastructure. Not even the completion of Namboole and Nakivubo stadiums will heal this deep wound.
Sports is continuously making a case not to be ignored as it could be the easiest way to change the lives of many families.