A new era for basketball at Uudam Mongol School is beginning.
Last school year, our school's basketball team closed out the season by winning the district championship at the Ulaanbaatar Cup and taking bronze at the city-wide finals.
Rather than treat this as a one-time result, we're planning to build on it: starting this school year, we'll form the “UM KIZUNA Basketball Club” with a professional coach, aimed at systematically developing students' basketball skills and building a stable school varsity team.
KIZUNA (絆) is a Japanese word meaning a strong bond, trust, and friendship between people. It reflects the values we hope basketball will help instill in our children — teamwork, discipline, mutual respect, and shared purpose.
In the 2026–2027 school year, the club's activities will run along two main tracks: a basketball circle (three times a week) and the school varsity team (three times a week). One day each week, the circle and the varsity team will train together, so students can learn from one another and help build a pipeline for the next generation of varsity athletes.
This school year we plan to arrange the use of a sports facility that meets our training needs for regular practice, with the long-term goal of holding regular activities in our own gym once the school's expansion project is complete.
Our goal isn't only to win medals in competitions. It's to give children who enjoy basketball a chance to grow, to give talented children a path onto the varsity team, and to give varsity athletes the chance to compete at a higher level.
