Omony’s longevity sets true standard

Sport, so goes the truism, is all about winning. But there is much more. If you cared to dismember the word into pieces, you will be welcomed by athleticism, joy, agony, competitiveness, magnanimity, passion, endeavour, fervour, rivalry and ingenuity. We could go on and on with no end in sight.
Yet perhaps the single, most remarkable facet any sportsman can have is longevity. That ability to defy age, the innate stubbornness to resist mother time, is a trait that separates talented athletes from the exclusive bracket of extraordinary stars.

We have customarily witnessed individuals in Uganda who transcended their disciplines and blew our minds away – think of Magid Musisi in soccer, Sadi Onito in golf and John Akii-Bua in athletics. They were marvelous champions whose feats will never be dimmed by the passage of time.
A hundred years later, their legacies will still be spoken of with reverence. The aforementioned trio are legends whose sporting prowess bordered on divine. They possessed God-given talent that elevated them to the remarkable levels they scaled.
And then there is Stephen Omony. The national basketball team captain and greatest Falcon ever has etched his name in the annals of Ugandan sport by subjecting his body to decades of endurance through unyielding determination.

Nineteen years after he made his Fuba league debut in a Blue Jackets team featuring Brian Kirungi, Vincent Chatti, Mark Eperu and Godwin Kihuguru, Omony – ever in peak physical condition - is still performing well in Division One.
A glance through the basketball players who have come and vanished off the scene in the 19 years Omony has graced the courts of Uganda and Seychelles, where he enjoyed a nine-year stint, is evidence of his sheer durability. Think of names like Ken Balyejjusa, Mandy Juruni, Godwin Khisa, Donald Blick and formers MVP Boniface Okello and Sam Obol to mention but a few.

Somehow Omony has not been struck down by the ravages of time; rather he has been fueled by a rare competitive edge to better his career in its twilight. It explains why he was in Tunisia last year when Uganda made its debut appearance at AfricaBasket mixing estimably against the best the continent has to offer.
Admittedly, his game is not what it was 10-15 years ago. That is a no-brainer. It is also true that Oilers have become the dominant team in the Fuba League, with Kami Kabange and Jimmy Enabu the standout individuals. So, it is unlikely that Omony will add onto his seven league titles won in Uganda (2), Seychelles (4) and Oman (1).

But his professionalism – one of the characteristics of greats - on and off court oozes class through and through. He remains fit as a fiddle, retains the demeanour of a player searching for his first championship and leads by example in his style of play.
The post moves, the athleticism, the single-mindedness and desire to win ball games have all not been diminished by the ticking clock.
Omony is the ideal specimen of how to stay top in sport. In future, history ought to remember him not so much for his ball handling skills like a dogged struggle against age, which he achieved seamlessly.

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So the Onduparaka promotion tale continues. Stories of the kind are exactly why we fell in love with sport. The unpredictability of things and the romance, the scripts torn to shreds, the magic of upcountry football.
As it is, Onduparaka will be playing continental football next season if they face KCCA in the final of the Uganda Cup.
Who could have imagined that a humble team from Arua would come within two matches of the Confederations football, a position hinged of course on KCCA knocking out Vipers in the Uganda Cup?
It explains why Onduparaka are the darling of many a soccer fan. Their addition to the Uganda Premier League just whetted appetite for the 2016-17 season.

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Welcome home Melvyn Lorenzen. Best of luck with the Uganda Cranes and hopefully, you can rewrite history and inspire Uganda to a first Africa Cup of Nations in 39 years.
Still the Lorenzen call cannot be discussed without making reference to Joel Kitamirike, once on the books of Chelsea, or Martin Mutumba who was once based in Sweden.
And Ugandan fans no doubt have not forgotten the mess that went by the names Savio Nsereko.
We know that Lorenzen is still unproven at Bremen and has only featured in a handful of games.
It is refreshing that he is genuinely 21 and has a future ahead of home. From a Uganda perspective, we can only hope that he is everything but a Kitamirike or Mutumba.

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One of the prominent Airtel billboards in town of the national team feature defender Henry Kalungi standing alongside Denis Onyango and Hamis Diego Kizza.
Of course, the centre back has not retired and coach Micho Sredojevich has not closed the door on him in the national fold.
It would be interesting to sound out the mind of Micho and probe him on whether he follows Kalungi’s form at Charlotte Independence in the USL Professional Division. Your guess is as good as mine.

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