Namugenyi: The ace in Luzira’s pack

Dorothy Namugenyi is the mystical sixth man in the Futsal Club of Luzira’s successful season this year. From being a middling mediocre club, Luzira is now contesting for honours.

“I demand players to be competitive. There’s no other option. Even when we lose, we should put up a fight. It’s business to me and I don’t tolerate any mediocrity. I told the players that I don’t joke around,” said Namugenyi.

The 28-year-old business administration-trained coach has been around football, a big brother to futsal, for so long to become one of the trained coaches in both sports. A Caf-C accredited coach, Namugenyi is also a certified futsal coach.

At the beginning of this season, Luzira took an unpopular decision to hire the services of Namugenyi into their coaching ranks to supplement head coach Samuel Tumwesigye and Ben Mwesigwa.

Even in the past, Luzira had a semblance of an organised team as they come from Uganda Prisons, an institution known for its sporting acumen and a history of producing winners. But they were always lacking on the pitch and hardly matched the competition.

“I didn’t have to change much. Winning is more about one’s mentality,” said Namugenyi in an interview before the team played Park in the finals of the Uganda Cup, the second-most important tournament in the Futsal Association of Uganda (FAU) calendar. They staged a fightback to lose 8-6 after trailing Park 5-1 at halftime.

Namugenyi who?

Namugenyi is a jolly character, who joined futsal in 2020, rather in unusual circumstances.

“I met with Jude (Katende) during the sports administrator’s course offered by the Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC). Jude told me he was part of futsal and was at the time a friend of Ben Mwesigwa (an instructor of futsal) and Hamza Jjunju (the chairman of FAU,” she recalls.

She was not convinced but took the time to google about the sport to understand its dynamics.

“I was attracted to the technicality of futsal, the speed. I thought to myself that this is a sport that could produce better players,” Namugenyi says.

She started attending night games which were by then held at the International Futsal Courts in Kisenyi. As her interest grew, she started volunteering with PAU in administration, especially on youth development. She would later become a member of the Technical Committee which is responsible for selecting the best players for the National Team.

The burden of women's football

Namugenyi was a budding footballer who reached the apex of women's football with UCU Lady Cardinals, Buikwe Red Stars and Kampala Queens. She was part of that Kampala Queens side that lost 1-0 to Lady Doves in the semis of the 2019 Fufa Women Elite League play-offs before Doves went on to win the national title.

She played football at High school and university featuring for Lubiri and then St Mary’s Kitende. She was in the second-last group which included the likes of Sarah Kivumbi and Viola Nambi that played women's football at Kitende before the school suspended the program.

Her introduction to football was at Edgars after picking interest from Farida Kisitu, who interested her in football.

“I was her ‘ball boy’. She was a very talented footballer and I wanted to be like her. When I grew up, I started walking from Wakaliga to Nakivubo for weekly training sessions at Edgars,” said Namugenyi, who was always in the company of the likes of Esther Nakalembe, Sylvia Nakazibwe and Stella Kaliba.

Despite playing on the best sides, Namugenyi didn’t fancy playing for the National Team then. Even when she was summoned, she let the opportunity pass.

“I put a lot of value on education. I was using football to get me education and be able to do other things,” she said.

“But at that time, it was not worth it playing for the National Team. The players who could attend training sessions were always telling uninspiring stories. There was always no money and conditions were hard. I am happy that the story has changed with the women's game because at that time it was a burden to society and our families,” she said.

Into football again

When Namugenyi completed high school, her focus was on completing her education. However, Uganda Christian University (UCU) was not offering that opportunity. She chose to join Busitema University (Paliisa Campus) to pursue her dreams.

While at campus, the university Sports Tutor Agnes Baluka Masajja learned of her background and encouraged her to attend a one-week coaching course to be able to assist the coaches.

Baluka made the offer to help bridge the gender gap in coaching.

“Men always steal the show. But we have competent women and I am really happy she managed to put out a good name through Busitema,” said Baluka

Namugenyi, who welcomed the opportunity because it enabled her to get a top-up of my tuition, built her reputation in the University Football League, reaching the quarters twice in 2017 and 2019. She was the first and so far the only woman to coach a men’s university team in the league.

She now boasts of talent such as Orit, who has played for Vipers and the Uganda Cranes, as well as Cyrus Kibande as outstanding players she handled during her time.

“Coaching the university team opened many doors for me as many people saw potential in me. But my focus was to become a sports administrator through coaching,” she recalled.

But this affected her performance on the pitch also as she had to skip many league games for UCU Lady Cardinals where she was a contracted player.

In 2019, Namugenyi decided to retire from football.

“I had to fight for a better class for my degree. It was tough to balance coaching, playing and studies. I chose to concentrate on my studies,” she said.

Raising her game

During her retirement, she fell in love with futsal where she is now making a name.

At the beginning of this season last year, when she was approached to coach Luzira, she took the offer with open arms. Not that she was redundant as she is a coach at two international schools which she doesn’t want to disclose for contractual obligations.

A women activist, Namugenyi, is a very practical coach who is keen on understanding the game.

“The Futsal Super League is the top league for futsal in Uganda. Everything has to be at the highest level. Players must put in more energy,” she said referring to the instant change that has seen Luzira sit second on the log.

“I analyse my opponents a lot. In the top league, this is a must to enable you to set your approach to games,” she added.

Namugenyi explains that to be at the top, one needs to work hard. This is the mentality that has been taught to her by life.

Namugenyi, who arrived at the club this season has instilled a winning mentality in the squad without necessarily acquiring new players but rather changing the players’ mindset.

“We’re building players for future national teams. Some people think that this season it’s the betPawa winning bonus (of Shs150,000) that is driving us. But they’re wrong. For us we want to develop top players who can be useful for national teams,” she said.

Her steady rise has inspired not only her teams but also her family. Her younger sister, Brenda Nassozi, is now a Caf B-licensed coach.

“I want to inspire as many people as possible through what I do. That’s why it’s important to promote values of excellence,” Namugenyi said.

For now, Namugenyi’s limit could be the sky.