Ascent Soccer in Uganda
OUR HISTORY IN UGANDA
Ascent Soccer Uganda was founded in 2014 as ‘Football for Good’, and was launched soon after the region emerged from over two decades of civil war and unspeakable violence. Founder Adrian Bradbury seeded the academy after spending close to a decade as an advocate for peace in northern Uganda, through his global work with GuluWalk.
Gulu, which sits in the economic hub of a now peaceful and developing region of over six million people, was home to the first full-time residential youth academy and now hosts an Ascent Soccer regional training and grassroots youth program.
In September of 2018, Ascent Soccer Uganda launched it’s national training centre in the capital of Kampala, to expand the opportunities and development of the region’s youth.
Ascent Soccer has a 10-year history in Uganda that, combined with a deep culture of football, provides the perfect opportunity to deliver youth football innovation and a global academic opportunity that will take talented youth from ‘cradle to career’.
OUR PROGRAM
Post—pandemic, Ascent Soccer has shifted back to Gulu and is the only full-time academy soccer and scholarship program in the northern Uganda, that delivers opportunities and global pathways for both boys and girls.
In Uganda, Ascent Soccer has run regional talent identification events and open trials for over 30,000 youth, and now operates both U14 boys and girls squads that are a feeder to the top of our academy pyramid in Malawi. And, over the 7+ years of our programming in Uganda, there have been full-time soccer scholars from Kenya, South Sudan and virtually every region of the ‘Pearl of Africa.’
Both groups enjoy a full-time academic, character, football and health/nutrition program, led by a committed group of international and local staff — and there are no fees or costs for any of Ascent’s student-athletes.
Our door is open to all, with a deep investment in talent and desire, that is tailored exclusively to the unique needs and gifts of East Africa’s talented youth.
