Some have wondered how they have made this remarkable achievement that tips them as the greatest women’s basketball team ever.
To begin their project, UCU started by recruiting seasoned basketball players like Flavia Oketcho, Brenda Mbone and Frances Nabulobi from the Lady Bucks, who had been league champions in 2006, their last.
By giving them scholarships to pursue degrees, it appeared easy to attract as many established players. On top of that, UCU built a strong scouting team to spot talent from secondary schools.
This was UCU’s third successive championship. It could not have happened at a better time. This year, UCU marked ten years of existence. While it is a long time since UCU made their maiden appearance in the women’s top-flight league back in 2007, few would have expected them to have won eight championships.
As a result, the question that lingers, is how they have managed to be this dominant, and whether UCU are not the greatest women’s basketball team of all time.
Albert Ahabwe, is a basketball enthusiast, that has followed the UCU keenly, having been a student there: “I do not know whether this is the greatest team. But they have been top performers.”
Ahabwe added that to win the way UCU has over the years is a phenomenon feat, that deserves credit. It has not been a mere switch of luck, but concerted effort.
Ahabwe explained: “Because of the University’s passion for sport, they have invested in building strong basketball teams, which have been competitive in the NBL.”
To begin their mounting of a challenge on the NBL title, UCU started by recruiting seasoned basketball players like Flavia Oketcho, Brenda Mbone and Frances Nabulobi from the Lady Bucks, who were league champions in 2006, their last.
By giving them scholarships to pursue degrees, it appeared easy to attract as many established players for quick success. Yet, UCU, found another strategy more effective; one that Nick Natuhereza, the head coach of both the men and women’s UCU teams revealed.
SYSTEMATIC
Talking from as far away as Leipzig, Germany, where he is undergoing training to upgrade as a basketball coach, Natuhereza revealed that UCU has a systematic player scouting programme. At every secondary school basketball competition, Natuhereza has been in attendance to spot players, who after their ‘A’ Levels, are offered scholarships to play for UCU.
This player scouting network has actually extended beyond Uganda’s borders, particularly during the East Africa Secondary School Games. As a result, talent from Rwanda, such as Rosine Micomyiza, UCU’s number one point-guard, Vilma Achieng, the team’s centre from Kenya, have formed a formidable team.
Alongside their Ugandan counterparts, Ritah Imanishimwe, Angella Lokwameri, Judith Nansobya among others with whom they joined the University in 2014, they have reigned supreme.
From a psychological stand-point, it is easy to get the best out of this team because all they have to worry about is how to remain fit throughout, as opposed to where to find money for fees.
Cornelius Engwenyu, the director of athletics at the University explains further how at least eleven members on the women’s basketball team are on scholarship. But they form just a fraction of the whole sports unit of 300 athletes covering several sports disciplines, that the university supports in different ways.
For example, Engwenyu said,“While our primary role is to provide education, we also promote life skills of which sport is one. Of the 300 athletes, at least 140 of them get accommodation from the university and 80 get tuition support, some of whom are the women basketball players.”
Nonetheless, the work does not stop at incentivizing these ladies with scholarships. Building the winning mentality has involved a lot of hard work.
“These ladies train everyday at the university,” Emmanuel Kiguyi, the acting coach while Natuhereza is away said.
Having overseen the team’s recent triumph, Kiguyi added that since few basketball teams can train everyday, because of lack of training grounds and logistics, UCU, the training facilities at the university have greatly aided the team’s progress.
In addition, because these players stay together for long, this has proven to be pertinent in building team spirit, a key factor for sporting success, Kiguyi emphasized. Even with the heavy player turnover, something guaranteed whenever one completes their degree programme, the team has remained steadfast.
A similar turnover would not leave another team unaffected. For example, players like Peace Proscovia, Maureen Amoding and Oketcho have joined other teams from UCU, but that did not end UCU’s stranglehold on the women’s league since 2008.
HISTORY
The last time UCU did not win the league in 2014, the crop of players that comprise their current team, were largely freshers at the university. They were experiencing the league for the first time. Four seasons in the top-flight league only proves how they have come of age.
By the time UCU came into existence, Lady Bucks were the undisputed queens of women’s basketball with a record six championships.
Makerere University Sparks, A1-Challenge and KCCA Leopards have one apiece. With eight championships to UCU’s name, something unprecedented, it is difficult to deny the fact that they are Uganda’s finest.
And they probably did it in style, when they subjected KCCA to an unprecedented sweep. The last such outcome in a playoff final was in 2010, when UCU left A1-Challenge for dead 3-0 in the best-of-five-series.
Asked whether such demolition made UCU the greatest, their captain Vilma Achieng said, “I do not know. It is for others to determine. All we think about is to keep winning.”
For what it is worth, the 2017 playoff final may be the last for some of UCU’s players, who have completed their final academic year.
That will sound undramatic to their fans as the series they just won. The 4-3 series win over KCCA in 2016 remains an unforgettable thriller by UCU, but also an embodiment of how great they are.
Winners of women’s basketball championships
1998- Lady Bucks beat Amazon Rhinos
1999- Lady Bucks beat Amazon Rhinos
2000- Lady Bucks beat Amazon Rhinos
2001- Lady Bucks beat A1-Challenge
2002- Lady Bucks beat MUK Sparks
2003- MUK Sparks beat Lady Bucks
2004- Lady Bucks beat MUK Sparks
2005- A1 Challenge beat Lady Bucks
2006- Lady Bucks beat A1 Challenge
2007- KCCA Leopards beat Lady Bucks
2008- UCU Ladies beat KCCA Leopards
2009- KCCA Leopards beat A1-Challenge
2010- UCU Ladies beat A1-Challenge
2011- UCU Ladies beat KCCA Leopards
2012- KCCA Leopards beat A1-Challenge
2013- UCU Ladies beat KCCA Leopards
2014- KCCA Leopards beat UCU Ladies
2015- UCU Ladies beat KCCA Leopards
2016- UCU Ladies beat KCCA Leopards
2017- UCU Ladies beat KCCA Leopards