Struggle from gaols to seeing sun, again

Last month’s announcement by Uganda Tennis Association (UTA) president Cedric Babu that the debt, to a tune of$26000 (Shs93m), owed to International Tennis Federation (ITF) had been cleared, was greeted with ecstatic faces.

Uganda had finally regained its membership to the ITF and Confederation of African Tennis (CAT), after an eight-year hiatus that cost Ugandan players opportunities to compete in global tournaments, including the much coveted Davis Cup. “There is light at the end of the tunnel at the moment,” Simon Peter Lwanjo, vice chairman of Lugogo Tennis Complex (LTC), told SCORE.

“We set up a committee together with Uganda Tennis Association (UTA) to fundraise and pay the debt that we owed to ITF. We designed a website, sought media and made a fundraiser. Individuals supported the cause and later on Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) and National Council of Sports (NCS) came on board too.”

Times of torment
When a country is not a member of ITF and CAT, it cannot compete in regional, continental and global tourneys.
Only a tennis player could understand the pain of inactivity. “I have tried to work with other tennis players to bring back the game which, over the years, had gone down. The popularity of the sport, over the last 10 years has been down and the factors for this are several.

There was an administrative gap at one point, which led to the slump in the sport,” explains Lwanjo. “The change in leadership brought some challenges. It was the period when John Nagenda, who was UTA chairman handed over power to Cedric Babu. The process was turbulent. Even when Babu took over, he failed to get out of that turbulence and failed to save the sport because it was like a wrangle.

“We had the older guard leaving and so many people detached themselves from the sport.”
The effects of the internal fights affected lawn tennis. Uganda took extemporised leave from ITF Futures circuits that are played by professional tennis players from around the world.
Uganda did not cover its annual membership dues to ITF and as a result had its membership recalled. As a result, Uganda was inexistent in the world of tennis.

Naturally, the morale among tennis players went down because perks like ITF coming into Uganda to train players and sending tutor coaches was no more. One of Uganda’s top tennis players, Duncan Mugabe, was one of the many affected by the turn of events.

Before Uganda was suspended, he had been at the High Performance Center in Pretoria, South Africa.
The country’s top seed suffered long spells of inactivity and missed out on several events due to lack of finances to enable him cross Uganda borders and also have the basics like clinical attention. No one seemed to care about the game.

Mugabe’s global rankings suffered a massive dip and the ITF snub also rendered LTC irrelevant as it hosted no competition of purpose. “Changes in the sport meant that the club was no longer the custodian of the tennis courts. We were taken over by NCS and Lugogo Tennis Club, therefore, did not have a clear mandate to push for tennis development,” says the LTC’s vice chairman.
The club was also dogged by financial constraints, lack of structures and technical incompetence, among other troubles with government support also remaining a far cry.

Starting from scratch
Better late than never. A few noble men from the game decided that they had seen enough of the downward trend and sought ways on how to revamp the game. They dug deep in their coffers, wooed friends to contribute to the cause and made official pleas to NCS and UOC. There is even a league – The Kampala Premier Tennis League (KPTL) - to show for their efforts. The worst of the storm has surely been ridden!
“The league has been running since September last year,” says Lwanjo.

Eight teams have been competing in the league, namely Trail Blazers, PTC Warriors, Game Changers, Team Titans, Team Kinetic, Team Ecobank, Lugogo Boys and The Grip. And it will come down to an anticipated thrilling climax today with the playoff finals.

Sponsorship has not been much and Lwanjo calls on corporate companies to come on board and boost the sport. Chairman Babu has also been quoted in the local media one too many times literally on his knees begging the government to come to the game’s rescue.

His everyday moan has been aided by sponsors who see no value for money in Ugandan sport and NCS whose help trickles in at a negligible pace – if it is to ever come. Hurt but sweltering with passionate, Mugabe knows the story of seeking sponsorship too well. It is a thin line that borders on being referred to as a beggar.
Like Mugabe, many of the folks at LTC remain dedicated, especially when the sport is all they desire. Lwanjo, too, is no stranger to the tennis court.

Since primary school at Mugwanya Preparatory School Kabojja, Lwanjo was a jack of all trades finding time for soccer, table tennis and lawn tennis – his faviourte.
When he joined St Mary’s College Kisubi (Smack), he focused on lawn tennis. It paid as he got selected to play in National Junior Championships in Kampala.

Passion and commitment
At university, Lwanjo slowed down on his passion and would only play tennis once in a while.
And like many, who give up on sports owing to work, family and other responsibilities, he was no exception.
But tennis always crossed his mind and after a lay-off of eight years, he traced his tracks back to the tennis court, in Lugogo, in 2008. To-date, he has competed in the traditional Ladder Tournament hosted by LTC for 12 editions and participated in the Uganda Open before it silently went off the calendar.

His story is similar to many, and for the reason many continue to work towards reviving tennis because it brings more than sweat but happiness and satisfaction within.
And this is not for just an individual but the entire fraternity. Lwanjo and others’ efforts could be the necessary tonic tennis needed to serve off a big development ace.
Coming from such forgettable journey, the onus is on UTA to volley home the winner.

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