Development through sports
About RISE Sports Foundation
The RISE Sports Foundation empowers community development and youth talent in rural Uganda through sports.
- The foundation has a mission to foster sportsmanship and inclusivity by providing resources and opportunities to nurture talent.
- The foundation established three sports leagues in the Mayuge district, including senior and junior soccer, and women’s netball.
- RISE offers essential resources such as coach training, sports equipment, and infrastructure to help these young athletes achieve their dreams.
For more information about the incredible impact that the RISE Sports Foundation has in rural Uganda, dive into the details on the rest of the website. And please support our work or tell others about us:-)
It is Collaborative Platform
RISE Sports Foundation was created in collaboration among:
- Civil Connections Community Foundation, Denmark
- The Youth Alive Initiative, Mayuge
- Mayuge Community House, Uganda
- Grassroots Allies, Denmark
Visit the different partners’ pages to learn more.
You can also join in:-)
Are you interested in joining us achieve this novel cause?
Join in – give us an email on andrew@civilconnections.org or andrewjbende@gmail.com
Our dedicated funders
Background & the league's logic
This league (and now leagues) was started in 2007 by a local organization (NGO) called Rural Urban Initiative to Support Own Efforts (RISE). It was championed in the initial stages by a Danish volunteer of RISE, Kristian Bertelsen, who was an aspiring mature football coach passionate about the sport in all its degrees.
As he emerged from his room with a new ball, he started to make passes with three to four fellow volunteers and office staff. Within 30 minutes, over 10 young people stood by the sidelines eagerly waiting for permission to join in. Interest was apparent, and the crowning moment was the arrival of the local Sub County Mayor, who joined in with his jovial mood, saying, “This is a good initiative, RISE”.
Indeed it was. This interest led to the mobilization of eight community teams into a tournament in the following months. The surge in soccer field activity by young people who streamed towards soccer grounds in the late afternoons was remarkable. They returned at sundown with laughter, conversations, jokes, and joint plans, triggering real community engagement and development.
The soccer tournament later evolved into a 14-team league with two five-month-long rounds per year in November 2007. This was triggered by the realization that there were many unemployed school-going youth who were faced with limited choices of physical group activities. This limit exposed them to isolation, loneliness, quick adulthood, destructive behavior, and surging HIV/AIDS waves, putting them at high risk.
How the league is organized:
The league (now leagues) are managed by a 7-person committee comprised of a league coordinator, four (4) community mobilizers and two (2) peer educators. The league coordinator comes from a local Community Based Organization (CBO)/NGO that Civil Connections Community Foundation (CCCF) partners with. The mobilizers are democratically selected among the teams, and peer educators are selected from knowledge domains related to specific periods to support the league in that space.