By Isaac Akugizibwe

KIU, Main Campus-KIU ended the 2021-2022 Uganda Beach Soccer Association (UBSA) league campaign among the best four despite failing to win Buganda Royal Institute at the semifinal stage and MUBS in the loser's match amidst a tense and dramatic closure to the season at the FUFA Technical centre in Njeru on Sunday 25th June 2022.

KIU was condemned to watching arch-rivals MUBS claim bronze medals while witnessing serial tormentors, St Lawrence University stun Buganda Royal Institute in the final to lift their third league trophy in a row.

"We've generally had a good season but today we have not been at our very best. There are mistakes that cost us in both the semifinal match against Buganda Royal and the loser's tie with MUBS," KIU coach Jeff Akabwai said in a post-match interview.

Akabwai's KIU side was also affected by shallowness in the squad with only ten players making it for the day. This exhausted the team so much making them susceptible to mistakes that surely cost their progress.

"We had few players and this made it hard for the team to rotate and avoid exhaustion. Some of the players did not turn up because we couldn't afford to facilitate their coming and going back. I have players who travelled from as far as Soroti, Mbarara and other places but I couldn't manage to facilitate them all," Akabwai explained.

Akabwai is optimistic that KIU will return strongly next season if they get maximum support in all spheres. He said that his players had sacrificed everything to make KIU proud.

"These boys have been so instrumental, everything here is about team spirit. We have sacrificed everything to impress in the game. Thanks to my boys for making KIU proud. My hope is a better performance next season but this won't happen without the necessary support and motivation," he said.

Apart from winning the league title, St Lawrence University also had three of their players named in the best lineup of the season while Buganda Royal claimed the best scorer and coach awards.