Makerere taking it one step at a time
She Mak players hoist one of their experienced players Viola Namuddu, who won four topflight titles with Kawempe, and now has the FWEL second division and Fufa Women Cup with Makerere. PHOTOS / ISMAIL KEZAALA.
What you need to know:
The league had been a mess for them but they won the 2018/19 Fufa Women Cup after outclassing favourites Lady Doves in the finals at MTN Omondi Stadium, Lugogo.
Makerere University coach Fred Ndawula quickly gets upset when you classify his team as one that oscillates between the Fufa Women Elite (FWEL) and Super (FWSL) leagues.
She Mak as the university side is commonly known are one of the first sides that formed the FWEL, when it was still the topflight league but when the FWSL (current first division) was birthed in 2019, Makerere stayed put for the 2019/20 season as they were not among the top 10 teams of the previous season.
The league had been a mess for them but they won the 2018/19 Fufa Women Cup after outclassing favourites Lady Doves in the finals at MTN Omondi Stadium, Lugogo.
They proved their mettle by getting promoted to the FWSL for the 2021 season but that iteration was played in a shortened format at Fufa Technical Centre, Njeru. Makerere was again quickly demoted after the round-robin games in Njeru.
“Do you classify that as a league?” Ndawula quizzed as he insisted they are yet to be ‘rightly’ relegated.
Makerere again proved they are too good for the second division by getting promoted as table toppers in Victoria Group and then beating Asubo-Gafford 6-0 in the finals of the FWEL in June this year.
“The target for us was to get back up and now we want to stay playing there,” Ndawula said.
Goals guarantee survival
He continues to beef up his squad but they are a better unit now with striker Rebecca Nakasato and Winnie Babirye finding their boots last season. The task is to prove they can continue to do the same in the topflight.
She Maroons and Tooro Queens, who got relegated last season plus Isra Academy the season before, found out that scoring goals is the trick towards survival. The former two were somewhat good defensively but could not buy goals.
Last month, She Mak also loaned their highly-rated goalkeeper Zahara Nankya to She Corporate for six months but Ndawula said “we had four keepers last season and we believe that department is secure for us.”
Name: She Mak
Coach: Fred Ndawula
Home grounds: Makerere University
Major titles: Fufa Women Cup 2019, FWEL 2022
