Oroma searching for Pakwach star

PAKWACH.

It is natural for us to want to bring development closer to our homes. After all, charity begins at home, so they say. And that is what Emmauella Oroma wants to emphasise.
Oroma is not your average sportswoman. She started out as a sprinter and represented Uganda at various international competitions.

Star runner
Born in Pakwach, Oroma unfortunately lost her mother at a young age.
His older siblings took the mantle of looking after the family. As thus, she started staying with her elder sister in Jinja, where she started school at Jinja Army Boarding Primary School.
Due to a fragile financial status, she went to four primary schools and five secondary schools.

At that time, she had started participating in school tournaments.
“School fees was a problem but my talent as a sprinter was my surety; I got bursaries and became a superstar of sorts,” she opens up, with a smile.
In 2005, Oroma represented Uganda at the Africa Juniors’ Championships in Tunis, Tunisia in 100m.

However, her first taste of major silverware came during the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (Anoca) Games in 2006 when she won gold and silver in 100m and 200m, respectively.
In 2007, Oroma joined Makerere University for a degree in Industrial Art. She represented the institution at the 2007 World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand, but she dropped out in the first heats.

Quitting athletics for rugby
According to Oroma, there was a lot of confusion at Makerere that forced many students on sports scholarships to drop out.

“The system was not straight-forward. Sometimes they (students) would be forced to pay tuition, yet they were on scholarships. So, those who could not manage to get the money dropped out, one by one,” she recalls.

Her passion for athletics started fizzling out. She had thought about rugby but had no one to introduce her to the sport.

Justine Bayiga, a former national team sprinter, had started playing rugby. She was part of the Lady Cranes team that played at the 7s World Cup in Dubai in 2009.
“We met and she told me about rugby. In sprinting, you run as an individual, whereas rugby is a team sport, and I like working with people around me. When I went to Legends for training, I enjoyed it. The rest is history,” she adds.

Oroma joined the Black Panthers, a top division women’s team. In 2011, she shifted to Jinja and was elected the youth councillor to the Jinja Council in the 2011 general elections.

When Helen Koyokoyo Buteme founded the Walukuba Titans in Jinja, Oroma decided to play for the team because it came from Jinja, her ‘adopted’ home.
Since 2011, Oroma has become a reliable member of the Lady Cranes. She has represented Uganda in the World Cup qualifiers, Elgon Cup, Rugby Africa Championships, Dubai 7s and other tournaments.

She, alongside Buteme and Irene Bunihizi Namapii, are the only Ugandans to have played for The Mamas, a team comprised of women from different parts of the world.

Pakwach project
In 2015, Oroma went back to Pakwach for a visit. She took two rugby balls and conducted tester sessions in two schools. The response was overwhelming.
On returning to Kampala, she asked Uganda Women’s Rugby Association (UWRA) to officially introduce rugby in Pakwach. Last year, Buteme and Lady Cranes’ Gilder ‘Azio’ Azikuru, assisted by Pete Hill, an English rugby coach, held a two-day training clinic in Pakwach.

“At first I was more interested in girls but then, the boys also picked interest, so we took them up, too,” says Oroma.

During the clinic, students from five schools and their teachers were coached in the basics of ball handling and touch rugby. According to Buteme, the UWRA secretary, they will introduce contact rugby clinics later on in the year.
“This is one of the ways that I can contribute to my community. Pakwach is still less developed and many children are faced with poverty.

“So I believe that through rugby, they can be scouted by schools and teams in Kampala. Some can go on to play for the national teams. I am their example,” says Oroma.

Oroma in brief
Schools attended: Jinja Army Boarding P/S, (P1-P2), Paroketo P/S, (P3-P5), Katurikire P/S (P5-P6), Lakeside P/S (P7)
Secondary: Muni Girls’ School, Wanyange Girls, Jinja SS, King of Kings, Jinja Girls’ School, all on bursaries.
University: Makerere Unviersity, Industrial Art

Playing career of Oroma

Black Panthers
Walukuba Titans
Uganda Lady Cranes
Positions: Winger, Prop