In June 2015 I visited Gulu United, the only full time football academy in Northern Uganda. The driving force behind the academy is Adrian Bradbury, a Canadian who lives in Gulu with his wife and two sons.
In this post, Owen (12) and Issac (15) give you an insight to an ‘away day’ in Uganda, as the boys travelled to Kitgum a 102 KM journey across dusty, uneven roads.
Hi my name is Owen Bradbury and I am 12 years old. In January, my family moved to Gulu, Uganda from Canada. I am part of the first ever full-time youth academy in Uganda, Gulu United FC. The academy has been training for 5 months since February. We’ve played many friendly’s locally, with good results. Recently we travelled to Kitgum, a town 2 hours North-East of Gulu.
The morning started at 7:45am when we left on a coach bus to Kitgum. We arrived there to find garbage on the fields and the field was still being cut. After a short wait, we finally got warmed-up and it was kick-off time for my team, the U15s.
Before we could kick-off, both teams lined up at centre field, so the
referee could check the length of our nails. Not caring that almost
half of there team didn’t have boots. After waiting for the few
players that had to cut there nails the match was on. Getting off to a
good start by keeping possession and trying to find the right
opportunity to break through. One poor pass caught us off guard and
led to a goal, we were down 1-0. After that we didn’t struggle to
create chances. Finding passes to split there defence and sending our
wingers threw on goal.
About ten minutes after the goal we found ourselves having a free kick
at the top of Kitgum FC’s box. I wanted to take the free kick but I
allowed our striker, Mwaka Polycarp, to take it telling him, “Next one
is mine!” He was about to take the free kick, when a saw behind the
wall there was space with the left-back keeping me onside. He took the
free kick with it slipping threw the wall, the keeper bobbled it and
the rebound falling to me like a gift from the heavens. So, I banged
it in and that was that, 1-1 going into half time.
The second half wasn’t as entertaining as the first half. We had most
of the possession. With little movement from our front three we
struggled to play key passes and break them down. Finishing in a 1-1
draw, it was a good result considering we were playing kids 2-3 years
older than us.
We weren’t the only team to play in Kitgum. The U17s played right
after us and the U21s following them. The U17s played very well having
most of the possession, but struggled to create many scoring
opportunities in the first half. In the second half, they conceded 2
early goals and then things began to pick up. After trying and trying
to get threw on goal. They got lucky when a back pass from one of
Kitgum FC’s defender was intercepted by Okot Denis and he slipped by
there goalkeeper and scored. The U17s now had some fight in them, as
time ran down they got unlucky on a corner. Where the ball took a
deflection and they conceded an own goal. The match finished in a 3-1
lost for Gulu United FC.
Following the match from the U17s was the main event, the U21s played
Kitgum’s best select team. The U21s were fantastic on this occasion,
dominating there opponents in every category. After sometime in the
first half they finally scored on a low cross from Ganukura Allan
Busobozi and tapped in by Kilama Dickens Victor. There it was 1-0
going into halftime.
The second half was more of the same from the U21s. Around mid second half Okot Moses finished some scrappy play in the box with a tidy volley from the edge of the box and celebrating his goal with a cheeky backflip. The match finished 2-0. A convincing victory for Gulu United FC.
At Gulu United we’ve been taught that it’s not all about a winning
result, it’s about playing an attractive style of football. So with
all three teams playing great football, we went home proud and very
tired.
By: Owen and Isaac Bradbury
About the Author
Dan has been coaching in a full time capacity since 2007, starting out in grassroots football he is now Head Coach for U11/U12 at Brentford Football Club, via roles at Eastleigh, Portsmouth and Bristol City. Currently working towards his UEFA A license and a holder of level 1, 2 & 3 FA Youth Awards, Dan also heads up the Brentford FC College Program, (a feeder for U16-18 aged players into the Academy in which commenced in 2014, with his side winning the competition in their first year.
