Women who are making a difference through sports

Majida Nantanda  

She has devoted all her life to football. She is not only among the most talented women football coach in Uganda, but also an instructor to coaches as well as an instructor to instructors. Through the Growing the Game for Girls organisation, Nantanda has trained girls at different levels and advocated for equal opportunites for men and women in sports. She started playing football at seven years. She played for the national women’s  football team, the Crested Cranes, until 2009.

 Her most memorable competitions include the Africa Women Championships in 2000, and friendlies in Kenya and Rwanda respectively. Nantanda, alongside five women were ushered to a Federation of International Football Association (Fifa) youth coaching course in 2007 by the Federation of Uganda’s Football Association (Fufa). She was later appointed the under 20 girls coach before taking over at the senior team, where she coached until 2017. A German instructor she met during the coaching course interested her in football coaching. Nantanda says for a woman to succeed in sports, she needs support from her family. 

She is also a small scale farmer. She is among the lucky few who have achieved almost all their dreams in sports. She used to look up to  Fran Hilton-Smith, a  prominent South African former footballer and coach, who also turned into an instructor for instructors, as well as a coach to coaches. “I am happy because I am now at the same level as my role model. There is nothing that makes me happier than sitting on the same Caf committee with her,” Nantanda says. Nantanda advises women to be confident and persistent if they are to succeed. She believes an adventurous woman will always go miles.

Mavita Ali

The KCCA Leopards Basketball Club head coach is an epitome of success both as a player and a coach.  She holds a Level One Federation of International Basketball Association (Fiba) Post –graduate diploma in Sports Science, majoring in basketball from the University of Leipzig, Germany.

She has been a captain at Makerere University, A1 Challenge a national league outfit and the national team, the Gazelles, in 2008, winning a championship for A1 Challenge in 2005. She retired as a player in 2010, before becoming an assistant coach at A1 Challenge and Xcel at Basketball Camp as a mini basketball coach. She also coached Javon Ladies, a national league side in 2017. Mavita works with the Score Beyond Organisation, a women and girls’ leadership organisation, where she focuses on using sports-oriented programmes to solve social problems for women and girls in Uganda whenever she is not on court. 

She draws inspiration from her boss, Rosette Mayor, the brain behind the A1 Challenge Basketball team and a former basketball player, who has invested her time and money in developing the game among women in Uganda. Born in a sporting family, Mavita says it was natural for her to adopt sports, as well as using it to positively influence society. She is bothered by the un-profitable nature of sports in Uganda and the inability for one to solely rely on sports as a means of survival. She calls upon women to work hard both on and off the court to better their lives. She advises women to find mentors and invest in their careers.

Shira Omuriwe Buyungo

Although she is an accomplished volleyball coach with a wealth of sports qualifications from Uganda and abroad, Shilla Omuriwe Buyungo still aspires for more. She started pursuing volleyball coaching courses in 2014, while she was still a player. She holds an International Diploma in Volleyball Coaching from the University of Leipzig, Germany in 2015, Management of Olympic Sports Organisation Diploma in 2017, and Federation Internationale De Volleyball (FIVB) Level II in 2019. She is currently pursuing a Confederation of African Volleyball (CABB) instructor course, as well as an International Coaching Enrichment Certificate Programme (ICEP), United States Olympic Committee at University of Delaware. Winning the national league for KAVC mens’ team is among her most memorable career highlights as a coach. The mother of three is still in the administrative ranks of the Kampala Amateur Volleyball Club (KAVC) after coaching both the men’s  and female teams for more than 10 years. 

Last season she promoted the Airforce, a serie B volleyball team to the serie A. Just like other women coaches, while at KAVC, Omuriwe had to work her way to prove that she can coach a men’s team. She says sometimes clashes with players are inevitable, but with her skills and experience, she manages. In Peter Buyungo, her husband, she has a strong support system. Sometimes, she appears on duty with her children since they also love sports. Omuriwe longs for the day volleyball will become a professional game in Uganda so that players can earn from their talents. The determined coach draws her inspiration from her former coach Anthony Ndawula, who first introduced her to the national team as a player in 2001. 

Besides volleyball, she is an entrepreneur and her ‘Living One’ juice brand is yet to hit markets. Although many women have studied coaching, she is disappointed that they have failed to practice it. She is looking forward to more female coaches in the sport. She calls upon women to be courageous and remain competitive while pursuing their careers.

Mercy Mukankusi

Few women would brave punches in the boxing ring.  Mercy Mukankusi is not only a boxer, but a coach at Zebra Boxing Club and at the national womens’ boxing team, the Bombers. She started her boxing career at Kololo Secondary School, before joining Kampala Boxing Club (KBC). She had a few inferior under-card bouts at KBC, before becoming a ring announcer.Through boxing, the mother of three says she met the love of her life in coach Godfrey Ssenyange, who gave her a chance to train boxing at Zebra Boxing Club, before she attained a Star One International Boxing Association (Aiba) coaching license.The 2018 East African Community Games in Burundi were a turning point for her. 

She trained a team of six women boxers for the competition,  who won five gold medals and one silver medal. Besides boxing, Mukankusi works as a scout in Kcca. She says women boxers have not received the required support as they lack quality gym equipment to train effectively. She intends to train and keep many girls in the sport, as well as build an outstanding boxing gym. Mukankusi admires Amelia Kyambadde, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives for the leadership skills she exudes.She advises sports women to work hard and be patient. 

Faridah Bulega

She is Crested Cranes, Uganda’s national women’s  football team head coach. Her ability to accept challenges in women’s football has earned her a sounding reputation. As a player Bulega ended her career at Kampala Queens and at the Crested Cranes in 2010, before returning to both sides as coach in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
 She became the first woman to assume a head coach role in a men’s team. In 2015 she was appointed head coach for Wakiso United, a regional football team where she trained for only a season before it was bought by Mbarara United.  The CAF B training license holder was appointed the Crested Cranes head coach in 2017, a role she has held up to now.

 In her tenure, Bulega has led the national team to a second and third place finish in the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) and Cosafa Senior Challenge Cup held in 2019 and 2018 respectively. She credits her family for allowing her to play football despite the common notion that soccer is for men. Bulega says some parents are still hesitant to let their girl-children play football. As a businesswoman and coach, Bulega says whenever she gets an opportunity to be with her son, she embraces it. Locally, Bulega looks up to coaching skills of KCCA coach Mike Mutebi and Wakiso Giant’s Douglas Bamweyana. She also fancies Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola, who has won two Premier League trophies for his team. Bulega advises women to invest more time in their careers and practise to perfect their skills. She aspires to make Uganda the number one women football nation in Africa.

Imelda Nyongesa

The adage that age is just a number best describes veteran netball coach Imelda Nyongesa. Currently in her 50s, Nyongesa has coached at Prisons Netball Club for more than 15 years. Her enthusiasm and energy while coaching and officiating both netball and basketball games, are unrivalled. She started as a player in Prisons Netball Club formerly Maroons, before replacing her netball coach Mike Ekaal in 2000 to date.

 She holds an umpiring certificate. During her tenure, the wardens have won four national league trophies in 2011, 2015, 2016 and 2017 plus three consecutive East African Netball Club championships in 2015, 2016 and 2017.Being one of the most prominent woman netball coach of her time, Nyongesa was invited for national duty in 2017 and went on to lead the She Cranes to the 2019 Netball World Cup, 
Commonwealth Games in 2018, among other competitions.Besides netball, Nyongesa is a basketball umpire and she also works as a senior officer in the Uganda Prisons. 

Nyongesa was inspired into coaching by the late Margaret Bisereko, a former She Cranes player coach and umpire, whose playing tenure included victory at three Cecafa netball titles with the She Cranes in 1975, 1981 and 1982. Bisereko also won three league titles for KCCA and Posta. In her coaching tenure, Nyongesa puts a lot of emphasis on skills development and endurance among the players. Nyongesa looks up to veteran Faith Were, the first female netball referee and coach, who pioneered Uganda Netball Association. She stands for discipline.

Helen Koyokoyo Buteme

A research scientist by profession, rugby coach Helen Koyokoyo Buteme is a strength and conditioning instructor at Express Football Club. Over the years, she has successfully promoted, funded and coached rugby in both men and women teams. Buteme uses rugby as a tool for social change. Through the Rugby Tackling Life, she has spearheaded projects to end child marriage and getting girls back to school among others. She sources female players, trains and ushers them to competitions most notably friendlies in Kenya including the Prinsloo 7s and Machakos 7s. 
Buteme has been at the helm of the Lady Cranes, Uganda’s national women’s rugby sevens team for some time leading them to the famous Africa sevens competitions in 2016, 2017. They emerged fourth in both competitions before  a second and fifth finish in 2018 and 2019 at the same competition.

She is the brain behind the famous Black Pearls, a Jinja based women’s national league side where she also coaches. Buteme comes from a sporting family. She draws inspiration from two powerful women including Zimbabwean women rugby coach Abigail Kawonza who not only played rugby but also coached and developed it among women. She also looks up to the Australian coach, Amanda Singez.
Just like other coaches, Buteme appeals to girls and women to challenge society norms both off and on pitch. “Failing is normal. Try again until you make it,” Buteme advises.