Brolin Mawejje

Brolin Mawejje
Born (1992-06-07) June 7, 1992
Kampala, Uganda
CitizenshipDual citizen of Uganda and America [1]

Brolin Mawejje (born June 7, 1992[2]), is a Ugandan-American snowboarder. Originally from Kampala, Uganda, he moved to America as a preteen.[2][3] After moving he became interested in snowboarding, and has sought to compete as the first Ugandan snowboarder, and Ugandan participant, at the winter olympics.[4] He has also studied medicine in hopes of pursuing a medical career.[5]

Early life

Mawejje was born in Kampala, and raised primarily by his father, along with his (six or seven) other siblings.[3][6] His mother had moved to the United States when he was (two or three) , and his youth in Uganda proved difficult.[3][4][7] At age 12, he moved to Lincoln, Massachusetts in order to live with his mother who had emigrated to the United States while he was a toddler.[8][9][3] This move proved difficult for him, as he had to learn English and deal with a strained relationship with his mother who he had not seen in years. He struggled with depression and anger issues, and lived with his grandma before moving in with his adopted family the Hesslers.[3][4] This family eventually left for Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and he moved along with them, finishing out his last two years of high school there.[10][3]

Snowboarding

Being from Uganda, which lacks a suitable climate for winter sports, Mawejje became aware of skateboarding first through movies such as Brink, and wanted to try it, but knew it was unlikely given where he was from. After moving to the United States, Mawejje received a hand-me-down skateboard on his first birthday in America, and he greatly enjoyed it. He was then exposed to snowboarding through a program that took at risk youth to Nashoba Valley.[10] He quickly fell in love with the sport, and he found it helped him fit in and deal with his difficult life after moving to the U.S. The same family that would later adopt him also helped at this time to get him to Vermont on weekends to be able to snowboard more.[3] After moving to Jackson and snowboarding frequently at Jackson Hole Resort, he began to compete across the Northwest as a member of the Jackson Hole Snowboarding Team.[8]

After starting college at Westminster University in Salt Lake City, Utah, he became the subject of a documentary, Far From Home, which detailed his journey to find snowboarding. After taking the film to Uganda, Mawejje began to get questions about whether he would compete at the Olympics, and he realized there was a real possibility for him to become the first Ugandan Winter Olympian.[3] This endeavor possessed unique challenges however. The Ugandan Olympic committee needed to register with FIS (due to the lack of previous athletes from Uganda). Additionally, he receives no financial support from Uganda.[3][4] Mawejje has also gone on to found the Uganda Snowboarding Federation.[5]

He began to train and compete in hopes of qualifying for the 2018 Winter Olympics, but had to stop 15 points short of qualifying due to doctors discovering that he had arrhythmia. Following this he began to train in hopes of qualifying for the 2022 Winter Olympics, but was stopped from participating in the qualifier due to illness. Despite these setbacks, he has indicated that he still seeks to compete in future Olympics.[5]

Medical career

Mawejje has long wished to have a career in the medical world. Starting as a freshman in high school, he wished to become a surgeon.[11] He went on to attend Westminster College while pursuing a degree in pre-med along with a second degree, and working at a hospital in Boston, Massachusetts over the summers.[3][9] Following attending Westminster College, he studied for and received a master's degree in epidemiology with a focus on sports and injury. After this, he enrolled at Parker University, where he currently studies for a Doctor of Chiropractic degree.[5] He has expressed interest in practicing medicine in Africa once he completes his studies.[5][4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ https://www.olympics.com/en/news/snowboarding-uganda-brolin-mawejje
  2. 1 2 "Brolin Mawejje | Africa Burton Team | Burton Snowboards US". Burton Snowboards. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Reimers, Frederick (2015-01-30). "Uganda's First Olympic Snowboarder Is a Badass". Outside Online. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Watta, Evelyn (2021-11-15). "Ugandan snowboarder Brolin Mawejje on Beijing 2022 hopes". Olympics.com. Archived from the original on 2024-12-26. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Professional Snowboarder Brolin Mawejje to Become Parker University Doctor of Chiropractic Student in 2023". Parker University. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
  6. ↑ "Snowboarder Brolin Mawejje pursuing dream to become Uganda's first winter Olympian". The Denver Post. 2016-12-11. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
  7. ↑ mathieu (2017-02-06). "#WUAlmaty2017: Uganda's Brolin Mawejje overcomes obstacles to rise in snowboarding world". FISU. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
  8. 1 2 Group, The ZaneRay. "Brolin Mawejje". Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Retrieved 2025-11-11. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  9. 1 2 Koekkoek, Toby (2015-11-13). "Ugandan Snowboarder Brolin Mawejje May Be Far From Home, But His Story Is Far From Over". Teton Gravity Research. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
  10. 1 2 Goodwin, Michael; Mawejje, Brolin (Oct 12, 2020). "Elevated Voices: Brolin Mawejje". Snowboarder.
  11. ↑ "Brolin Mawejje: Far From Home". Snowboard Magazine. 2014-04-29. Retrieved 2025-11-12.
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