Rwakabengo Sports Academy CEO Impressed by Warm Welcome at Rays of Grace
Rwakabengo Sports Academy has hailed the warm reception and hospitality extended to its players and officials during their benchmark visit to Rays of Grace Academy in Njeru Municipality.
The delegation, led by the academy’s founder and Chief Executive Officer Julius Niwamanya, travelled more than 464 kilometres from Rukungiri to Njeru, arriving on Sunday evening, August 30, 2026, for a week-long exchange visit that will run until Saturday, September 5.
The visit is aimed at strengthening collaboration between the two academies while providing an opportunity for players and officials from Rwakabengo to learn from Rays of Grace’s approach to talent identification and development.
After two days at the institution, Niwamanya could hardly hide his excitement about the reception his delegation had received.
“We have come to Rays of Grace for an exchange visit so that we can have a collaboration between Rwakabengo Sports Academy and Rays of Grace as far as talent development is concerned,” Niwamanya said.
He praised the management, coaches and entire Rays of Grace community for creating a welcoming environment for the visiting players.
“In a special way, I would like to thank the management of Rays of Grace for giving us this opportunity and allowing the players of Rwakabengo to train with them for a full week,” he added.
“The place at Rays of Grace is good, the people are kind and very hospitable. We are enjoying ourselves and learning a lot.”
Why Rays of Grace?
Niwamanya explained that the decision to choose Rays of Grace for the benchmark visit was influenced by the academy’s record of developing young footballers who have progressed to higher levels of the game.
“We chose Rays of Grace Academy because we have seen them develop players who have gone ahead to represent Uganda on the youth national teams and have continued to perform well at higher levels,” he explained.
The Rwakabengo delegation is expected to spend the remainder of the week participating in training sessions, interacting with the technical team and players, and exchanging ideas on different aspects of academy football.
The programme is also expected to expose the visiting players to a different football environment while giving both institutions an opportunity to share experiences on player development, discipline, education, coaching, welfare and career progression.
For Rays of Grace, the visit represents another opportunity to strengthen relationships with fellow academies and contribute to the wider development of grassroots football in Uganda.
As the exchange continues, both academies hope to turn the week-long engagement into a lasting partnership that can create more opportunities for young footballers.
Rays of Grace Academy and Rwakabengo Sports Academy — learning, sharing and building the future of Ugandan football together.