Week five of the 2025 National Basketball League (NBL) gets underway tonight with a number of intriguing fixtures.
Key among them will involve women’s defending champions, the JKL Dolphins and the UPDF Tomahawks, who even with their indifferent form, are a competitive team. On the other hand, the men’s defending champions, the City Oilers will be on the spotlight, as they aim to register their first league win, when they face recently promoted Rezlife Saints.
It will be Oilers’ third game of the season, after they lost their previous two to the Namuwongo Blazers and the JT Jaguars. Both the aforementioned games will be at the Lugogo indoor stadium.
However, there will be games at Abja Park in Naalya, a recently added venue for NBL games. This, and Uganda Christian University (UCU) in Mukono, plus YMCA Wandegeya are among the venues that have been added by the Federation of Uganda Basketball Associations to propel the sport further.
Gordon Gumisiriza, a member of the League Management committee noted that because previously, games have only been played at the YMCA and Lugogo, it was rather limiting.
On a number of occasions last season, the league was called- off because YMCA and Lugogo were not available. That led to the league lagging behind. But now, with two more venues, that problem has been solved.
Furthermore, considering that the league started late in March, two months later than the initially intended date, there was concern that it would not be able to end in time, in order for Uganda to submit its representative in the Basketball Africa League (BAL).
Yet, with the availability of more basketball courts, the projected time of ensuring that the regular season ends by August, is within reach.
“Previously, a match-week would have 12 games played. But now, the number has gone up to 16 games,” Gumisiriza said.
That said, the spreading out of games was also seen as a good way of taking basketball to the communities, in order to attract new fans. Perhaps, many were unable to go to the YMCA or Lugogo before.
Instead, by having games in Mukono and Naalya, new fans are tapped into, which eventually, is expected to increase the sport’s revenue. However, it is still early days to see the cash rewards.
The attendance remains low, and maybe with time, it will increase. On the other hand, teams have to contend with travelling to new grounds, which inevitably eats into their budget.
YMCA Wandegeya and Lugogo have been quite central and accessible, which obviously is not the same about Abja Park, for example. The navigation to that place is tricky because it is a few kilometres off the road, and in a residential area largely surrounded by tall walls.
One would need a boda-boda if they are not driving. Otherwise, walking to the main Naalya road is tedious especially at night, if one does not easily get a boda-boda, which can happen.
