Ugandan Christmas Cup Recap : David Matoma Makes an Appearance

The Ugandan Christmas Cup was the last tournament of 2024, and was the largest and most popular of the year. Eight teams and 250 players participated in the latest edition, including David Matoma, currently in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. I'll go over some stats from the tournament, what this means for the baseball community in Uganda, and what to look forward to in the future.

First some stats from the tournament. The LA Dodgers took home bragging rights and the cup, second place was the Nile Hammers and third was the Gayaza Baseball Club. Babe Mawa took home the award for best pitcher. This tournament had the largest attendance from the community, both among players and fans. In addition, 1,257,000 Ugandan Shillings (around $340 US Dollars) was the winning prize.

To see how much the baseball community means to the players, look no further than what the prize money went to. A local baseball player, Andama, was recently diagnosed with cancer. Knowing this, the tournament was played in his honor, with some of the proceeds going to him to help fund his cancer treatment. After the LA Dodgers victory, they too donated their winnings to Andama. It's truly a testament to how tightly knit the baseball community is, and how much they care for those within it.

It's the Major League Baseball offseason, but one player who isn't taking any time away from baseball is David Matoma. He made a guest appearance at the Christmas Cup, hitting and playing shortstop. Having him there is such a big boost to the baseball community and younger players that look up to David. He's shown them that it's possible for Ugandan players to get signed and succeed in the United States. Now, playing on the same field as him, there's no doubt there will be more Ugandans breaking into professional baseball in the United States and other leagues around the world.

I talked with Kasozi Gerald, the tournament director, about future tournament plans and about what he hopes to improve upon. He says the main three things are involvement from the community, having more and longer games, and paying tournament officials to increase the quality of the umpiring and tournament as a whole. With him in charge, I have no doubt each tournament will continue to improve.

The next tournament is rapidly approaching, taking place January 26 with total prizes of 1.5 million Ugandan Shillings (around $400 US Dollars). If you'd like to donate, please reach out to the event director Kasozi Gerald at +256775725074 or +256759900314.

On a side note, when the MLB season starts to pick up again, I hope to write more consistently, and will be bringing all the news about Ugandan baseball.