Youth Sport Uganda

What Youth Sport Uganda does

Youth Sport Uganda (YSU) is a Kampala-based non-profit organization founded in 2012 that uses sport — primarily football and athletics — as a delivery mechanism for education, health, and livelihood interventions targeting vulnerable children and youth in Uganda's urban slums and refugee-hosting communities. Its program portfolio spans five verticals: Health Programs (mental health, SRHR advocacy, substance abuse prevention, and hygiene through Football 4 WASH); Education Programs (child sponsorship for secondary school, adult literacy, social inclusion); Livelihood Programs (vocational training in tailoring, hairdressing, and bead-making); Football for Development Programs (Social Sports Schools using the Real Madrid Foundation's Values and Sport methodology); and a newer Climate and Environment Program using athletics to address climate change.

YSU's core technology is its sport-based development methodology — structured curriculums delivered by trained coaches, teachers, and social workers across schools, community safe spaces, and refugee settlements in Kampala District, with extension to Kamwenge and Lamwo. The organization operates with 11-50 employees and runs programs in direct consortium with international development and sport institutions, including the Olympic Refuge Foundation, FIFA Foundation, Swiss Academy for Development, French Development Agency, GIZ, International Olympic Committee, and Real Madrid Foundation.

YSU's revenue model is entirely grant- and donation-based, with two streams: (i) charitable contributions and a child sponsorship program supported by 'friends of YSU abroad' (notably Charlenes' Project and Youth of Uganda), and (ii) project grants from international development agencies and sport foundations funding discrete multi-year programs. All services are delivered free to beneficiaries, with no pricing or earned-income component. The organization is led by Executive Director Joshua Opolot and operates without parent-company structure, public listing, or equity capital.

Name

Youth Sport Uganda

Legal name

Youth Sport Uganda

Website

https://youthsportuganda.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Youth Sport Uganda is a Kampala-based non-profit using football and athletics to deliver education, health, livelihood, and child-protection programs to vulnerable urban and refugee youth across Uganda.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sport-Based Youth Development Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411), Sports and Recreation Instruction (611620), Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers (71394)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts, Sports & Recreation-Based Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Local Amateur Clubs & Community Sports Organizations (MPAKACAE), Cause, Community & CSR-Linked Sports Partnerships (Foundations, Youth Programs) (MPAKALAJ)

Keywords

• Youth development programs
• Sport for development
• Community health education
• Vocational skills training
• Football for development

Headquarters

HQ city

Kampala, Uganda

HQ country

Uganda

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: The organization receives donations from individuals and supporters, including a child sponsorship program where funds from friends of YSU abroad support young sportsmen and women to attend secondary school.
2. Foundation and Development Agency Grants: YSU receives funding from international development organizations including French Development Agency, Xcalibur Foundation, Real Madrid Foundation, Swiss Academy for Development, GIZ, Olympic Refuge Foundation, FIFA Foundation, and others to implement specific programs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Youth Sport Uganda runs sport-based community development programs that use football, athletics, and play to deliver health, education, livelihood, climate, and girls' empowerment messaging to vulnerable children and youth in Kampala's urban slums and refugee-hosting areas of Uganda. Programs combine coached sport sessions with structured curricula, vocational skills training (tailoring, hair dressing, beadwork), adult literacy, and child sponsorship support. Services are delivered free of charge to beneficiaries through community safe spaces, schools, the Naguru Social Sport School, and outreach into refugee settlements.

Product overview

Youth Sport Uganda is a non-profit organization offering a portfolio of sport-based community development programs targeting vulnerable youth in Uganda's urban slums. The core offerings span five main program areas: Health Programs (sport-based health promotion, SRHR advocacy, mental health support, and substance abuse prevention), Livelihood Programs (vocational skills training in tailoring, hairdressing, and beads-making), Education Programs (child sponsorship, adult literacy, storytelling, and social inclusion initiatives), Football for Development Programs (Football 4 WASH, Girls' Football, and social sports schools), and Climate and Environment Programs. The organization operates through project-based interventions funded by international donors including the International Olympic Committee, FIFA Foundation, Real Madrid Foundation, GIZ, and Swiss Academy for Development. The product architecture is organized as a multi-program platform supporting both school-based and community sports programs across Kampala's slums and refugee-hosting areas.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Health Programs (e.g., Generation Well) Sport-based health and well-being education programs delivered through coached physical activity to vulnerable youth in Kampala's urban poor communities, addressing topics such as hygiene, sexual and reproductive health, and general wellness.
• Livelihood Programs (Tailoring, Hair Dressing, Beads Project) Vocational and income-generation training programs in tailoring, hair dressing, and beadwork, designed for out-of-school youth and adults in slum communities to enable economic self-sufficiency.
• Education Programs (Adult Literacy, Child Sponsorship) Education support programs providing adult literacy classes and child sponsorship linkages that keep vulnerable children in school and support their families.
• Football for Development Programs (Game Connect, Boot It, SaFE, Level Up!, Football 4 WASH, Girl's Football) Curated portfolio of football-based programs using the Real Madrid Foundation Values-Based Football methodology to deliver social and behavioral outcomes including gender equity, WASH, life skills, and inclusion for vulnerable youth, including dedicated girls' football programming.
• Climate and Environment Programs (Play Right Project) Sport-based environmental awareness and climate action programming that engages youth in Kampala's slum communities in climate literacy, environmental stewardship, and community-level climate response activities.
• Naguru Social Sport School / MTN Naguru Social Sports School A physical community hub in Naguru that serves as the central site where integrated sport-based development programs (football, athletics, education, livelihood, and health) are delivered to local youth, supported by MTN Foundation partnership.

Quantifiable outcome

• 89% school completion rate among sponsored secondary school girls
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Real Madrid FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides unique and pioneering education in values football methodology 'For a Real Education: Values and Sport' for Social Sports Schools in Uganda.
• AVSI FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead implementing partner for SaFE project and consortium partner for Game Connect Project addressing psychosocial wellbeing and mental health of vulnerable youth.
• Uganda Olympic CommitteecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsortium partner for Game Connect Project leveraging sport for refugee youth mental health and peaceful coexistence.
• Right To PlaycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsortium partner for Game Connect Project supporting refugee and host community youth through sport-based interventions.
• UNHCRcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsortium partner for Game Connect Project supporting refugee youth through sport-based mental health interventions.
• Child Play InternationalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIntroduced the storytelling concept to YSU, providing a manual for storytelling sessions that reach over 1,000 children in primary schools.
• MTN UgandaminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate partner for SOS Social Sports School program at Naguru.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• AVSI Foundation: Italian NGO operating extensive education and youth programs in Uganda, including the SaFE project and Game Connect consortium with YSU.
• Right To Play: Global sport-for-development leader using play and sport to educate and empower children in disadvantaged communities; YSU is a consortium partner on the Game Connect Project in Uganda.
• Generation Amazing: Qatar Foundation initiative using football to address health, gender equality, and inclusion for disadvantaged youth globally; competes for similar FIFA-aligned funding.
• Kick4Life: Lesotho-based NGO using football to deliver health and education outcomes to at-risk youth; operates a similar sport-for-development model in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Play International: French NGO using play and sport to promote education, health, and social inclusion for vulnerable children; shares YSU's sport-for-development methodology.

Regional players

• Sport dans la Ville: France-based sport-for-social-inclusion nonprofit primarily serving French urban youth; comparable operating model to YSU but in a different geography.
• Mathare Youth Sports Association: Kenya-based sport-for-development organization using football to deliver health, education, and social inclusion programs in Nairobi slums; close methodological parallel to YSU.
• S.C.O.P.E. Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe-based sport-for-development organization using football to deliver HIV, health, and education programs; operates with similar community-led methodology in Africa.

Broad incumbents

• Special Olympics International: Global nonprofit using sport to empower people with intellectual disabilities; has Uganda programming and competes for the same development donor pool.
• Laureus Sport for Good: Global foundation funding grassroots sport-for-development programs across more than 100 countries; a potential upstream funder for organizations like YSU.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/YSUganda
• Facebookfacebook.com/youthsportuganda
• Instagraminstagram.com/youthsportuganda
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/youth-sport-uganda

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Youth Sport Uganda