It is a big national shame that basketball is begging

The commonest tale of Ugandan sport is either under-funding or neglect by government. Or both.

Local basketball finds itself in the typically Ugandan puzzle of the men and women’s national basketball teams stranded ahead of the Fiba Africa Zone V qualifiers to be held in Egypt next month.

The team is in crisis with preparations going on halfheartedly because no one is sure whether the Silverbacks and Gazelles will board the plane to Alexandria.
It is the old, sick story of the hardship that sports must contend with in the country called Uganda.

Three years ago, Uganda’s men hosted the Fiba Africa Zone V qualifiers and defied history to make it to Africa’s biggest tournament for the first time in decades.
The ladies too qualified for their competition on the continent (hosted in Yaounde, Cameroon) as well as the All Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville.

The Silverbacks management were tossed left and right in their desperate chase for money before the team finally travelled for the Afro Basketball Championship in Tunisia.

When the money requested from government finally came through, it was little, came in pieces and arrived late.

The ladies team miraculously made it to Cameroon – the team was not sure of travelling less than 24 hours before their flight – to represent the country. Sadly there was no miracle for the All Africa Games and the team consequently failed to travel despite hours of rigorous training in precision.
The plight of the game of basketball and the committees tasked with managing the Silverbacks and Gazelles is a sorry one.

Uganda has treated the sport and the individuals working tooth and nail to make the country participate in the qualifiers as fourth rate citizens. The gains made from competing in the 2015 Afrobasket are about to go to waste should the team fail to raise $76000 (Shs274m).

When you consider how much money of state money goes to waste on issues that do not enhance the image of the country the way the Silverbacks and Gazelles do, you can’t help but cry for out beloved motherland.

The cries of basketball are not an uncommon act of desperation given that soccer, netball, boxing and athletics have all been down that road in the last few years.
Still, it is an embarrassment that two national teams of basketball going to represent Uganda at the highest level in Africa must be made to cry before any support comes forward.

We are an unserious lot who have decidedly stuck to investing and reaping in mediocrity. The few success stories are despite and not because of structured support from the government.
Kabugo on comeback trail
It was refreshing to see Proline’s Savio Kabugo pocket the threat of Onduparaka dangerman Mohammed Shaban when the two sides clashed at the Phillip Omondi Stadium in Lugogo mid last week.

Kabugo read the game well, won all his interceptions and barely gave Shaban a sniff at goal. When the 2016 Airtel Fufa Player of the Year eventually scored for his team in a 3-1 defeat, it was from a highly dubious penalty.

But for a long-term injury, Kabugo would have been part of the Cranes team that played at last month’s Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon.

The player is now focused on winning back his place in the team that will play the 2018 Afcon and World Cup qualifiers, and is looking forward and not dwelling on his dark days of agony.

Kabugo received special acclaim from 2008 Africa Player of the Year Emmanuel Adebayor after the latter succeeded in nullifying the threat of the gangly Togolese when Uganda visited Lome in 2015.
More of such consistence form will cause a selection headache for coach Micho.