One thing that stood out is that he still oozes class in his game, a rare at- tribute for defenders. Nestory was a galloping fullback who, despite his attacking instincts, never won any silverware with The Cranes. Nonetheless, he distinguished himself playing in the mighty SC Villa’s rearguard for almost six years, winning several titles for the club.
Like most of his peers who peaked in the late nineties and early 2000s, Nestory was unfortunate to have played the beautiful game at the time when football wrangles dominated top-level administration of the game.
The wrangles and high turnover of Fufa leaders destabilized The Cranes and have only the 2003 Cecafa Cup title to show for.
EARLY DAYS
A young Nestory started his football career at Alimasawi FC, a local club located in Bukoba region, Tanzania. When he joined Kyotera SS as a student in 1997, the then 15-year-old became an instant star for the school team.
It was here that his elder brother, Manfred Kizito, wooed him to join Kyotera FC. In 1998, Nestory joined his brother in Kampala but because he was young and lacked size, several top- flight clubs turned him down. He set- tled for lower-tier side Lukuli Hearts FC where coach George Ssimwogerere fielded him as a centre half.
MOVING TO VILLA PARK
At Lukuli, his outstanding performances attracted him to a couple of clubs but his brother’s influence saw him joining SC Villa at the end of 1999. At SC Villa, coach Paul Hasule switched Nestory to left full back but this position had three established players in Abubaker Tabula, Sula Walusimbi as well as Peter Makanga.
However, Tabula’s departure for trials in Argentina was a blessing in disguise for the youthful Nestory. Hasule drafted Nestory into the first team and he made an instant impression. It was hard to envisage that Nestory would make the position his but he did just that. Even when Tabula returned after trials, Nestory maintained his starting role. SC Villa won the double in 2000 (league and Uganda Cup) and Nestory was one of the best players.
SWAPPING TANZANIA FOR UGANDA
It was at that time when SC Villa officials persuaded him, together with Manfred, to change their nationality to Uganda. Both youngsters were named Kizito and got Uganda passports. Nestory was summoned to the Uganda Cranes B side which featured in the 2000 Cecafa Cup held in Kampala. Uganda `B’ side fell to their counterparts Uganda Cranes `A’ 0-2 in the final.
The event helped Nestory up his game. He was also summoned for the 2001 Castle Cup in Tanzania and put up an outstanding performance to cement his position at The Cranes.
At Villa Park, Nestory added goals to his game. His volley against Health FC and a direct goal from an in-swinging corner against Nile in the 2000 season made Nestory a special player at both Villa and the national team. Six major titles in five years summed up Nestory’s extraordinary hunger for success.
JOINING THE PAID RANKS
In 2004, Nestory was the undisputed first-choice left back at SC Villa and Uganda Cranes. It was in the middle of the season when Nestory moved to Serbia and joined second-tier side FC Srem, where he played for a season before moving to topflight side FK Vojvodina where he played for five good seasons.
In 2010, however, a misunderstand- ing with his bosses saw him demoted to the club’s reserve side and at the expiry of his contract, he joined FK Partizan. At the same time, Nestory continued to star for The Cranes until 2011 when, in the wake of Uganda’s agonizing failure to qualify for the 2012 Afcon, he announced his retirement.
He also terminated his contract with Partizan due to a nagging knee injury and returned home to try revive his game by joining Victoria University FC. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out and he ended his career at Lweza FC.
Since then, he went into coaching and briefly worked as Villa assistant coach but he currently handles Standard High School football side.
bzziwa@observer.ug
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