Why Ugandan sport must not start, end with football

If you have a thing for opposites, you sure got a hefty share of them last weekend. The Uganda Cranes playing Ghana on a potato garden of a pitch vis-à-vis Rugby Cranes running in try after try on Legends Club’s lush pitch; the assistant referee’s flag shamefacedly triggering a sigh of relief vis-à-vis fans punching the air in tandem with Adrian Kasito following his last-gasp try against Zimbabwe.

All the above mentioned contrasts ranged over last weekend as Ugandan rugby put on a clinic that eluded its well-nourished footballing cousin. If you cannot decide which contrast you like more, it is probably because the biggest of them all has not been mentioned.
Revelations that Fufa, through no fault of its own, took an eye-watering Shs1b to put together an excessively luxurious snore-fest at Namboole invited scorn and ridicule when it came to light that URU (Uganda Rugby Union) operated off a shoestring budget of $800 (an estimated Shs3m). The anger was not in knowing that government finds it strangely likeable in investing in football, the sport’s chequered track record notwithstanding.

Many rugby fans are smart enough to know that government does this in a room-temperature placid manner because the undertaking yields political mileage. Lots of it!

Government has every right to act the way it does. Such an action may be compellingly off in the assessment of the minority, but it never runs afoul in the politics rule book. What is, however, unsettling is how government profits off the sweat of those it chooses to give a tattered cushion (the start of a rugby Test match was recently staggered as if there was a ceremonial tape to cut). The congratulatory tweets from the powers that be are particularly phoney.

The National Sevens Rugby team has in the past couple of years done so much on so little. In doing so, the team has managed to publicise Uganda in a much better light than what was mustered by pictures of the potato garden beamed across different pay-TVs. One of your columnist’s friends in the land of Uncle Sam was for one pleased to get a lowdown of the Rugby Cranes on CNN a week ago. Save for when there is a ‘pillow fight’ in Parliament, it’s not that often that Uganda makes news for all the right reasons on international TV networks.

In the past year, Rugby Cranes have featured on CNN more times than one can count off fingers on one hand. That might not be political capital, but is publicity. It is foolhardy for government to play ostrich with head in sand especially since sports tourism gaining in traction. Sporting disciplines like rugby are helping government get so-called soft power and, dare I say, money.
Believe it or not, tourists come to Uganda to play golf not because we have the best courses, but rather because they experience something different.
Something like smashing the ball off an 8th tee at Jinja Club that literally sits on the banks of the world’s longest river, the Nile. Or enjoying the unique experience of teeing towards the picturesque view of Mount Elgon dominating the skyline at Mbale Sport Club’s signature hole - the par-5 No.3.
Sports in Uganda should be much more than just football. The sooner government comes to this realisation, the better.

Address disappearing acts by making sport an industry

Without leaving so much as a trace of a winner, professional golfer Brian Mwesigwa made a good impression of one at the just concluded Uganda Open.
If Mwesigwa’s appearance - the steely stare fashioned by bloodshot eyes for one - points to someone who has suffered the blow from being addicted to alcohol, it is because he actually has. It also explains why many were dismissive of his chances at the Open despite a sparkling start highlighted by a solid opening round of 71.
The Open is strung out over four rounds. Many pundits thought Mwesigwa would stumble. Except he didn’t. And the proved enduringly popular. Who can forget how Mwesigwa had Dismas Indiza’s heart in the mouth during the final round when a tough, long birdie putt on the par-4 16th almost dropped! Ultimately, Mwesigwa had to settle for third position after finding the bunker on the par-4 18th.
Before routinely praising Mwesigwa for sailing off into uncharted territory, many observers were quick to note how he mustered such a beautiful game of golf using a desperately old set of clubs.

The man himself told your columnist that “those new wedges my opponents were using” can take him places. Overall it’s no bed of roses being a professional golfer in Uganda. The Uganda Professional Golfers Association (UPGA) has failed to string together events, which usually translate into money in the pocket for the Mwesigwas.
The UPGA is not alone. Heck, making money off any sport discipline in Uganda is no rosy endeavour. The vanishing of three national ruggers in Germany after the sun had set on the Oktoberfest Sevens underlines this as boldly as it should. While one of the players - Brian Kikawa - left behind a fiancée he had promised to walk down the aisle this year, the others -Fred Odur and Ramathan Govule - could never dream of successfully staging a wedding.
Govule in fact used to make ends meet by, wait for it, washing cars at Legends, the home of his erstwhile club, Kobs.
NCS’ response to the disappearing act, which came hot on the heels of another from national boxers, was typically from a position of privilege. Instead of waving around a carrot and stick approach, Council should address the underlying issues that occasion such disappearing acts. Above all, it should work toward turning sport into an industry that puts food on the plate of its ‘stars.’ The Mwesigwas of this banana republic surely deserve better.

What we know...

We know that City Oilers are back-to-back Fiba Africa Zone V Basketball Club Championship kings.
This after they wiped the floor with Rwanda’s Patriots during last weekend’s final.
We know that the feat bodes well for Ugandan basketball and is another feather in the cap of the club.
We know that the club did not just win the championship, but also financed it in more ways than one.
And in retaining the title, we know that Oilers will play at the forthcoming Fiba Africa Club Championship.
Since a number of City Oilers players feature for the national team, the championship should act as some kind of tune-up for the Silverbacks.