Rockets entertain champs

Rockets entertain defending champions Wananchi in this season’s MPL National Hockey League (NHL) opener at Lugogo, with a lot to prove.
After finishing second in 2014, they capitulated spectacularly to finish last on the five team log last year.
Many disappointed players like defender Abdul Aziz, striker Jerome Owor and goalkeeper Steven Otieno jumped ship.
With no coaches, poor training regimes and leadership melees in local hockey, margins separating teams are so small, in that Rockets have failed to make sense of what befell them last season.
“A lot didn’t go well in terms of players’ commitment but we are in great shape and looking forward,” utility player Michael Nashimolo said.

Musa Baitaka, arguably one of the best midfielders to have ever graced Lugogo, has returned to the club after over five years away while brothers Sharif Kikomagwa and Shafiq Muleme have joined from Simba.
Meanwhile, Wananchi vice captain Innocent Mbabali decried the fact that only four senior players have trained in pre-season leaving the club to depend on younger players. Not that it should be a worry.

All clubs hugely depend on schools for players and the ladies’ encounter between last season’s also-rans Weatherhead Jaguars and Deliverance Church (DCK) will feel like a school affair.
Jaguars have recruited 22 players from Kololo High School while DCK have seven from Old Kampala.
“With a new coach (William Oketcha) and Old Kampala qualifying for the East Africa Schools Games our side is full of confidence and motivation, we shall do better,” Sharon Oroma said.
TODAY IN LUGOGO
M: Rockets vs. Wananchi, 2pm
W: Jaguars vs. Deliverance, 4pm.

[email protected]