Mother, daughter play for different teams

The inaugural Fufa Women Elite League that climaxed in June came with many unique aspects but one stood out; a duel between a mother and her daughter.

On three occasions, Annet Nakimbugwe of Buikwe She Red Stars faced her daughter, Hasfah Nassuna – a Senior Five student and player of Kawempe Muslim SS, with the latter winning all battles. Ironically, there was no love lost whenever they squared off.

Beginning of a career
Nakimbugwe speaks about her football career with pride. Her late father was a footballer for Mityana-based Kiyinda Boys FC in the late 1980s. Unfortunately, he had to quit soccer after suffering a broken leg during a training session.
“I still feel bad about it because he had just signed for Coffee FC but was yet to play for them.

“Signing for Coffee was meant to change our lives because they were playing in the top division and it was paying well. However, God had other plans,” she says.
That misfortune, as she refers to it, forced her to quit netball for soccer.

“My father had started taking me to their training sessions. I found soccer exciting and more physically engaging than netball.
“So, I started to play soccer in order to keep his legacy alive, and I am happy I haven’t disappointed,” she adds.
At school, Nakimbugwe rallied other girls to play football against boys “and it was fun.”
Her breakthrough came in 1998 when she came to Kampala for holidays.

Rebecca ‘Mama Baker’ Kazibwe (RIP), a renowned football fan, had founded Kampala United Women FC. There were other teams but Mama Baker’s team was the strongest and had the most talented players.

“Almost everyone at Kampala United was a national team player. The likes of Oliver Mbekeka and Majida Nantanda were the stars,” Nakimbugwe recalls.

One day, Jackson Ssenabulya, Mama Baker’s friend, took Nakimbugwe to the club’s training ground, at Clock Tower, where she impressed the coaches. Straightaway, she was integrated into the team. That opened doors to the national women’s team, the She Kobs, which was training for a trip to Nairobi.

In the early 2000s, Ugandan football suffered various administrative setbacks, which led to the collapse of women’s football. Nakimbugwe and Mbekeka sought greener pastures in Rwanda, then D.R Congo, which they represented at the U-20 World Cup in Russia in 2006.

They returned to Uganda but went off the radar because women’s football was still in limbo and there was little competition. Mbekeka went into coaching but Nakimbugwe stuck to playing which has seen her and her daughter, Nassuna, on opposing sides on several occassions.

But how does it feel lining up against her daughter?
“When the referee blows the whistle, we face each other like any other opponents would. My team pays me to play. So, there is no way you expect me to handle her softly. She is an opponent like any other. She is only my daughter before and after the game,” Nakimbugwe asserts.

And how about losing to her? “It hurts but I try to look at it like any other loss. When you lose to her side, it’s three points gone, just like you would lose to another team,” she explains, candidly.

Like mother like daughter
Unlike Nakimbugwe, Nassuna’s family did not initially warm up to her love for football. “She grew up with her grandmother and they are strict Muslims who could not let her wear trousers,” says Nakimbugwe.

Nassuna’s footballing career took a leap following the death of Abaas Mukiibi, her father. She was reunited with her mother and it was only then that she started playing.

At St Michael Primary School, Mityana, Nassuna’s talent left students and teachers awed. It is from there that Nsumba Primary School took her on bursary from where she joined Kawempe Muslim in 2011.

Her versatility, industriousness, agility, ingenuity and knack for scoring important goals have made her one of the leaders in the Kawempe team.

“She is a very disciplined girl on and off the pitch,” her coach, Ayub Khalifan, sums up her character, one probably molded on her mother’s advice.

“I remember when we first spotted her at Nsumba, she refused to come to Kawempe because of the competition. She was nervous but her mother told her ‘to go and compete’. She did and if it wasn’t for the school policy that a captain has to be in Senior Six, Nassuna would definitely be the leader of this team,” Khalifan adds.

A war of many battles
Last season, the Fufa Women’s Elite League was illuminated by Nassuna and Nakimbugwe’s battles in the three matches where they faced off. It became the talk of the fans. On all occasions, Nassuna emerged victorious. In their first meeting in Buikwe, Nassuna won a penalty converted by teammate and eventual league top scorer Sandra Nabweteme, the only goal of the match.

The stage was set for the second match between mother and daughter. In that particular game, Nassuna got better returns when she scored both goals as Kawempe defeated Buikwe 2-0 in the return leg at the school’s pitch nicknamed ‘The Valley’.

With two losses on her hands, Nakimbugwe still sounded philosophical: “I am mature enough. Whatever happens on the pitch, that’s where I leave it. Congratulations to her, no hard feelings. But if my team had won today, the way I know her, she would be fuming,” she said.

For Nassuna, it brings emotions seeing her mother on the losing side but she insists she is always out to help her team.
“We talk about the games and laugh about it. But that is where it ends. On the pitch, it is serious business,” she says.

Winner takes-it-all
As fate would have it, Buikwe and Kawempe qualified for the finals, held at a neutral venue, Nakivubo Stadium, in June. The battle lines were drawn. As the teams entered the dressing rooms, Nassuna and Nakimbugwe were in a jovial mood.

“Today is my day. They have beaten us twice but this is the biggest game. This match is what matters most, and we are here to separate young girls from women,” an upbeat Nakimbugwe told us.

As the teams lined up on the pitch, each Kawempe player hugged Nakimbugwe. According to Nabweteme, the Kawempe captain, this was because “Nakimbugwe, being our teammate’s mother, is our mother too and we accord her the respect she deserves.”

Nassuna was the last to embrace her mother. It was an emotional hug that lasted longer than her teammates’. As they separated, Nakimbugwe patted Nassuna on the shoulder and the fans, mainly Kawempe students, cheered vigorously.

Originally, Nassuna is a midfielder, the same position that her mother plays. But in this match, she was played on the right wing, denying the fans a real battle in the midfield.

But still the duo collided. In the 25th minute, they vied for an aerial ball that Nassuna won, drawing cheers from the stands. Nakimbugwe’s turn came in the 40th minute when she whizzed past Nassuna with a sprinter’s pace.

But Nassuna took the day with Kawempe winning 3-2 to write history as the first champions of the Women Elite League. She was also voted the league’s Most Valuable Player.

At the award-giving ceremony, the Kawempe players embraced Nakimbugwe again, consoling her. Like in any football environment, they also teased, trolled and challenged her to get a feel of their trophy.

“We lost because our team is ageing and we also had a weak bench. They are still young girls with a lot of energy, that is the edge they had against us,” Nakimbugwe explained. As Nassuna and Kawempe took to the pitch to celebrate with the cup, Nakimbugwe issued one more last warning: “we shall be back for them next season.” Her career has come to be defined by that ‘Never give up’ attitude.

For Nassuna, it is just the beginning. She dreams of a professional career in Europe.
“It’s hard to balance books and school. I want to study law at university but if that doesn’t happen, I will start to think about football from a professional perspective.”
With the 2015-2016 season already underway, the possibility of a mother-daughter face-off is high and both have promised not to let their guard down, not even for a second.

Next week: Read about former SC Villa and Cranes captain and coach Paul Hasule (RIP) and his brother Geoffrey Higenyi, who played for club and country.