The Uganda sports culture remains light years behind

First class. The Sport Marrakech Complex where striker Nelson Ssenkatuka and his teammates are training from is better than any facility in Uganda. PHOTO BY MARK NAMANYA

What you need to know:

  • As the national population grows, the facilities are thinning countrywide. We are unfortunately so many years away from a number of countries in Africa when it comes to the culture of sports.
  • Changing will require a lot more planning and strategic thinking, beyond the recognition of accidental team or individual glory stories which are few and far between.

On Monday night, Uganda Cranes will be playing its final Group B match in Marrakech against Ivory Coast as the 2018 Championship of African Nations tournament (Chan) approaches the midway stage of the competition.
The Moroccans have been magnificent hosts in the four host cities of Casablanca, Marrakech, Tangier and Agadir in their preparedness, infrastructure and organisation.

For a country that stood in after initial bid winners Kenya were found wanting by the Caf inspection team, Morocco have been nothing short of excellent.
Such has been the quality of their readiness that it makes meaning when Morocco harbor a long-held dream of staging the Fifa World Cup someday. Remember they were outbid by South Africa for the right to host the 2010 tournament.

The Sport Marrakech complex where Group B teams have held their sessions is a first class amenity that Uganda has been yearning for years.
Sitting on a vast chunk of land 11kms north of Marrakech, the multi-purpose complex that was opened six years ago has hosted the IAAF Continental Cup (2014), the Fifa World Club Cup (2014), the African Athletics Championships (2014) and a series of Caf and Fifa World Cup qualification matches involving Morocco and as a neutral ground for African games.

It was the venue where hundreds of Uganda Cranes fans flew by charter to watch the Uganda-Senegal match of 2013. The most unique aspect about the complex is not so much the 45, 240 capacity like the five other training fields within the complex.

They are neat, soft, well-maintained grass fields that make any Ugandan envious. Watching Uganda Cranes training sessions has been a joy to behold because of the magnificence of the surfaces.
In the coldness of winter, the grounds allow easy passing of the ball and in the ideal world should be the ones where we train in our sports fields. The Vittorio Gregotti-designed complex is not the only one of its kind in Morocco. There are others in Rabat, Tangier, Agadir, Fes and Meknes.

Organic development
A sports culture is what really propels a country to compete at continental and world level. With first class facilities, it becomes routine to hone skills of youngsters and set them on a steady path to organic, steady development.

A sports culture is not merely loving sports; its erecting the infrastructure to support the notion of passion for sport. Uganda’s sports culture in Africa is still a long way off, and this has nothing to do with Stephen Kiprotich’s medals or the boxing belts of John ‘The Beast’ Mugabi.

Because in reality, any Ugandan sports team or individual has no business defeating their equivalent from Morocco or Tunisia. When our boys or girls qualify, they should be given a bigger Presidential handshake than the infamous one. What would it cost the country to have four or five national sports centres in the far-flung areas to tap and nurture talent in its most raw form?

As the national population grows, the facilities are thinning countrywide. We are unfortunately so many years away from a number of countries in Africa when it comes to the culture of sports.
Changing will require a lot more planning and strategic thinking, beyond the recognition of accidental team or individual glory stories which are few and far between.

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@mnamanya