She Corporate ready to block out the noise

It took She Corporate seven seasons since the inception of the topflight women's football league to win a maiden title.

Now, what they hoped to become a winning dynasty is under threat as their cross-town rivals Kampala Queens are building a team of 'galacticos' to challenge.

"We expect a lot of competition and not from just KQ," coach Hassan Isa, who is fully back to the dugout after sharing role with Charles Ayiekoh at the Caf Women's Champions League zonal qualifiers in Tanzania where the Ugandan champions finished second last month, said.

"Every team will come at us believing they need to prove themselves against champions. 

But we are under no pressure. We learnt a lot of lessons in Tanzania that should help us overcome a lot of challenges in the upcoming season," he added.

The lessons

En route to their triumph, the Sharks had some notable struggles against the lower-placed sides last season - a thing that Isa wants to sort out this season.

There was a 0-0 draw away to Rines just after blowing Kawempe Muslim and Uganda Martyrs High School (UMHS) Lubaga away at home.

Then the two 0-0 draws with Olila High School and She Maroons, which was eventually relegated, juxtaposed with a shock 5-0 loss away to Lady Doves.

"We learnt from Tanzania how to fight back when you go down. It is never straightforward but that is how you overcome from self-inflicted mistakes," Isa said.

Corporate also had good experiences against Central Bank Of Ethiopia, a side that loves to pass opponents into submission, and the physically engaging Simba Queens that eventually won the qualifiers.

But the biggest take away for Isa was having to play without fans in a stadium filled with a crowd backing the home side.

"The players had to shut out that noise and they did that with flying colours for most of the time in the games against Simba Queens.

It helps build our calmness and that ability will come in handy in some of our games and when the pressure starts to build," Isa explained.

Nantege, Atim out

That said, She Corporate are still grappling with injuries as Ronah Regina Nantege and Susan Atim, who undergoes surgery this week, are out of the season.

Grace Nassongo is back to training but apparently has to overcome the mental challenges of dealing with long-term injuries.

The loss of those attackers makes the short stint of Anita Namata, who moved from UMHS in July to beef up the Tanzania-bound squad but has now moved east to Kenyan side Vihiga Queens, even more painful to the Sharks faithful.

"We knew Anita was headed out soon so we secured more options," Isa said.

One of those options is Spencer Nakacwa, who joined last month after a stint at Lady Doves. She has been showing promise for years without necessarily hitting the expected heights with consistency.

At Corporate, she will look at the turnaround of Favour Nambatya, Cissy Nantongo, Miriam Ibunyu and Phionah Nabbumba among others and hope she can follow their lead.

Club: She Corporate

Ground: Mubs, Nakawa

Coach: Hassan Isa

Captain: Naume Nagadya

Major Achievements: FWSL champions 2022, Runners-up Caf Women's Champions League zonal qualifiers 2022, Runners-up Fufa Women Cup 2018, Runners-up FWEL 2016, Kampala Region champions 2014