British High Commission celebrates female athletes
L-R: Sharing experiences. Boxer Teddy Nakimuli, para table tennis and javelin player Anna Harriet Anzoa and para-badminton player Ritah Asiimwe interact with British High Commissioner to Uganda H.E Kate Airey at her residence on Tuesday during a ceremony held to shade light on the plight of female athletes in Uganda and to mark Commonwealth Day. PHOTO/COURTESY
What you need to know:
Para table tennis player and javelin thrower Anna Harriet Anzoa, 15, a student at Caltec Academy has never looked back since she started training under coach Regina Nakibuule.
On Tuesday, The British High Commissioner to Uganda Kate Airey hosted various sports stakeholders to her residence in Nakasero to shade a light on the challenges female athletes face in their career paths.
The ceremony also doubled as an opportunity to celebrate Commonwealth Day, which falls annually on March 13.
This year, however, the Day comes after Birmingham, a city in England, had hosted the Commonwealth Games and felt like a timely opportunity for the Commission to celebrate female athletes.
Through a video, athletes; Teddy Nakimuli, Ritah Asiimwe, Asina Kabandera and Anna Harriet Anzoa shared their experiences and called for more funding towards women in sport.
Nakimuli, a 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, reluctantly got involved in boxing after her "father ordered that all his children get involved" in the sweet science. She has since looked up to American boxer Claressa Shields for inspiration.
Kabandera, a basketball and netball player with KCCA Leopards and Makindye Weyonje respectively, had to forge a living through sports after being "born into a big family where our father could not take care of all of us." She is inspired by Jamaican shooter Jhaniele Fowler.
Para table tennis player and javelin thrower Anna Harriet Anzoa, 15, a student at Caltec Academy has never looked back since she started training under coach Regina Nakibuule.
Asiimwe, who is inspired by tennis legend Serena Williams, is a para-badminton player and went to the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021. She is ranked 17th in her class worldwide but has "already missed a couple of tournaments due to financial constraints" in her qualification pathway to the Paris 2024 Paralympics.
Message of hope
"It was important for us to profile these female athletes to understand some of the barriers for women sport, and to hear a small part of what it takes to succeed as a woman in sport here Uganda. What these athletes give us is hope," H.E Airey said at the function which was also graced by Commonwealth Games Association of Uganda (CWGAU) vice president technical Moses Mwase and Commissioner for Physical Education and Sports in the Ministry of Education and Sports Reverend Canon Duncans Mugumya.
