How The Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement Became an Unlikely Baseball Hotbed

KIRYANDONGO, Uganda —

Thwack

Thwack

Thwack

It's 7 a.m. on a Saturday. Most 15-year-old boys are dead asleep at 7 a.m. on a weekend. But not Kisa.

Thwack

Thwack

Thwack

The sound of Kisa's tennis ball as it hits the wall echoes in the stillness of the early morning.

It's a scene Kisa's uncle sees many mornings. No, scratch that, he sees it every morning. Kisa throwing his tennis ball against the exterior wall. The wall returning it on a bounce into Kisa's waiting hands. It's become something of a daily ritual for Kisa. It must seem strange to his uncle that a sport he may not have even known existed 15 years ago, when Kisa was born, is the sport his nephew chose to fall in love with.

"You're crazy!" his uncle says to Kisa, in between throws.

"It's not crazy," Kisa responds with a smile. "I just love it."

Kisa Abel walks with his baseball gear

It was pure luck that Kisa even discovered the sport of baseball. It was one October day in school when the students were separated by name to play various sports. It just so happened that Kisa's group was assigned to play baseball. He grabbed a bat and stepped up to hit for the first time in his life, and bang, he swung and hit the ball hard.

One of the coolest things in baseball is when a rookie is called up and gets their first MLB hit. The joy as they break out into a smile and fist bump their first base coach is one of those little things that makes us love baseball. When Kisa reached first base, he wasn't in the MLB, but to him it may as well have been the World Series. He could hear the cheers from his friends and he knew right then, he was in love.

The Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement is the last place you'd expect baseball to exist. Kiryandongo is home to over 133,000 refugees displaced from their homes in Sudan, South Sudan, the DRC, and other neighboring countries. Yet it's produced one of the best baseball teams in the country, a national champion girls softball team, a pitcher in the Dodgers academy who touches 95 mph with his fastball, and multiple players who represent their national teams. It's such a baseball hotspot that they've received visitors such as Brian Scott, who runs umpiring camps, and Tom Gillespie, a Pittsburgh Pirates international scout responsible for signing David Matoma and Muhoozi Armstrong, both playing in the Pirates' minor league system.

So how did this settlement become a baseball hotspot? It's largely thanks to one man, Coach Serugo Fenekansi, also known as Coach Fenks. It started out when Coach Fenks and one other coach were handed a little over 200 kids at a local secondary school wanting to learn the game of baseball. Fenks moved to Kiryandongo in 2022 after previously playing baseball and working as an assistant coach in the Ugandan town of Luwero. It was here at the secondary school that Fenks met and coached many talented youngsters, including Kisa Abel.

Over time, players naturally started dropping out and the team was whittled down to a smaller, more manageable baseball team. The team has been great under Coach Fenks. The first question he asks players when they join the team is why they want to play. For many, it's a chance to learn more about a sport they never played before. For others, it's a welcome distraction from all the other hardships that come along with being displaced from their country of origin.

Two team photos, the bottom at the recent Christmas Cup in December 2025

The successes haven't come without their share of challenges. Due to the nature of being a refugee settlement camp, many players are constantly on the move, or picking up and leaving with little or no notice. Some players have already returned to South Sudan. Another obstacle is the lack of access to quality baseball gear. Due to the relatively low supply of gloves, cleats, and baseballs in the country, there is a large reliance on donations. The Dodgers do a great job of providing what they can from their academy, and Japanese organizations also provide equipment as well.

Considering all the challenges, it's a true testament to the work of Coach Fenks to develop baseball players that have competed on the national stage and garner interest from MLB organizations. Kisa Abel is hoping to be that next player.

On a training day, Kisa will wake up at 5 a.m. in order to get to the field at 6 a.m. From 6-10 a.m. he trains for four straight hours before a break, then training continues another two hours. At one he takes a lunch break and then is back to training from 3 to 6 p.m. A 12 hour day. What keeps him going day after day? He's pursuing a dream of following in the footsteps of David Matoma and Muhoozi Armstrong. He's working to get signed to one of the two MLB academies in Uganda, run by the Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates. But his internal motivation? "Baseball makes me happy,” he says. “It takes me away from my problems. It's something that unites people and bring love and peace."

The next step for Kisa is to face better pitchers in more game situations. Because of the location of Kiryandongo, often they are traveling long distances in order to play games against other squads. Kisa isn't afraid of taking the next necessary steps. He told me he is excited to face pitchers throwing 90 plus miles per hour.

Kisa takes a lot of pride in his name. In the Luganda language, Kisa translates to mercy. There's no doubt, opposing pitchers will be hoping Kisa takes mercy on them when he steps into the batter's box.

Writer's note:

I want to extend my gratitude to Kisa Abel and Serugo Fenekansi for taking the time out of their busy schedules to talk to me and give me insight into their lives and baseball program. It's a privilege to meet people who love the game of baseball so much. Thank you to you both.