URN.The mini stadiums present an alternative for the working class, coaches, and other people interested in playing soccer largely for leisure. The majority of the players start their matches around 7 pm and play until midnight.
Several people within the Kampala Metropolitan are taking advantage of mini stadiums to play soccer at their convenience. While the normal stadiums in Kampala are majorly owned by schools, and professional football clubs, which makes them inaccessible to the public, the mini stadiums are easily accessible provided the players can pay to use them at any time of their convenience be it at night or day.
The mini stadiums present an alternative for the working class, coaches, and other people interested in playing soccer largely for leisure. The majority of the players start their matches around 7 pm and play until midnight. The mini stadiums are spread in different parts of Kampala including Mengo, Makerere, Kitebi, Nyanama, Munyonyo, Kyebando, Kansanga, Muyenga, and Kabalagala among other places.
These mini-stadiums are constructed on half an acre on even smaller pieces of land using artificial turf. They are usually fenced by a wall and net on either side and above the pitch to prevent the ball from getting out of the playing area. Unlike the normal pitch, some of these mini stadiums accommodate 8 players aside because of their nature, but often times players go beyond that number.
The owners charge their customers per hour and prices vary depending on the location of the stadium and the time of play. However, during the day, the price ranges between Shillings 50,000 and 100,000 per hour. However, the charges change at night because of the lights that are used and on the weekends because of high demand.
Some of the stadiums have shower rooms where players can freshen up after play while others have luxury bars and restaurants where the players can chill before or after the game. Mathew Kyakulaga is a football coach in Kampala and owns an academy that is based in Wandegeya.
Our reporter found him at Golazo football Arena in Makerere Kavule during his routine training sessions in the morning. Kyakulaga said that he opted to train his academy on turf because it helps his players adapt to the style of football he wants.
Kyakulaga would fancy his players to adapt the “tik-tak” style of play, which he says will be difficult for his players to perfect if they use a bumpy pitch. The coach also says that many of the stadiums in Kampala are overcrowded, adding that the mini arena comes in handy because he can use the space and his team for a specified period without intruders.
Kyakulaga pays Shillings 75,000 every hour his team spends on the artificial turf. He says that although this is a little costly, he finds it fair considering the fact that the owners inject huge amounts of money to set up such a facility.
Kourouma Billo is a businessman in Kampala and stays in Zana along Entebbe road. According to Billo, while growing up as a child, he fancied playing soccer but things didnt work out when he started working in the city center where his job occupies him almost the entire day. He, however, says that despite his busy schedule, he manages to preserve time at night and play, adding that, he found the turf (in Kitebi) more appropriate for him as it helps him to keep fit all the time.
Huzaifa Mpaga, another businessman in Kampala staying in Nateete, shares a similar story to that of Billo. He told our reporter that he uses the turf arena in Mengo at night whenever he teams up with his workmates at Mutaasa Kafeero.
Mpaga explains that during the day, they barely get time off work to play soccer but it becomes easy for them to play at night. He together with his colleagues at work, book the pitch for two hours, which costs them Shillings 100,000 every Wednesday where they play, between 8 pm to 10 pm.
“We used to play football at school but now it’s hard to play regularly. But we have our small team at work, we always play in Mengo at night,” Mpanga explained. The overall manager of Golazo Football Arena in Makerere Kavule, who only preferred to identify himself as Sam, explained that he charges Shillings 65,000 per hour if a team is to use his pitch during the day but increases the charges to Shillings 75,000 during the night because of the lights used.
He also explains that the stadium is used mostly during the evening hours, adding that most of his customers book their time in advance to avoid the traffic that comes in the evening hours.
Setting up a mini-stadium
According to Sam, for a person to construct such a stadium, they must have about half an acre of land and about at least Shillings 100 million as a start-up. He says the most expensive part of setting up the facility is procuring a turf (carpet) that ranges from Shillings 65 million depending on the type of turf.
In his case, the turf used at Golazo Football Arena was procured at Shillings 65 million in addition to other expenses for leveling the ground, building a perimeter wall around the pitch, and taxes. He explains that the process becomes more complicated when the land is not leveled because it brings in other costs.
