A fortnight ago, Nick Natuhereza celebrated leading UCU Lady Canons to the 2016 National Basketball League women’s title when they beat KCCA Leopards in a gilt-edged final. The recent Canons’ success has made Natuhereza appreciate the value of winning even more, writes JOHN VIANNEY NSIMBE.
Nick Natuhereza was the first to admit that it is success achieved on a knife-edge, under immense and near unbearable pressure that is sweetest. In fact, this year’s women’s basketball championship will always be memorable to him for the way the play-off finals panned out.
It was an oscillation of events. At one time Natuhereza was smiling away, as his team led 2-0, and before he knew it, he was staring defeat in the face, 2-3 down. Yet, as he probably went into resigned mode, with all the palpitations that come with such desperation, as his team was, he was celebrating his voice hoarse after edging the contest 4-3.
That ultimate triumph felt like returning from the dead or, better still, a first. Yet in actual sense, it was Natuhereza’s second successive women’s title. But because the 2015 one was easily won 4-2 on aggregate, it was less tense. And that is why there was less craziness upon the last whistle then, as was the tears of joy, triggered by a sense of relief this time.
Natuhereza is not the kind of coach who goes into wild celebrations. But with all that tension that abounded throughout the series, coupled with thoughts in the many sleepless nights, as victory seemed to be slipping away, Natuhereza will not retire from the sport like some sportsmen did recently, to concentrate on less pressure things. He is made for this, as the story of his life tells.
A HUSTLER
Born in Rukungiri on June 13, 1984, as the fifth of nine children to Hilary and Annet Bakamuturaki, both of whom are deceased, Natuhereza lost his parents at the age of 10. This has appeared to make him a hustler, growing up under the care of a guardian, Passy Pomeroy, who helped him through school.
In fact, Natuhereza spent a lot of his early school years in boarding school at Mugwanya Preparatory School, Kabojja. Self-reliance and a battle-hardened mentality is what he honed from early childhood, before scoring the marks that saw him join St Mary’s College Kisubi for his O-level.
It is at such high- Sprofile schools, that individuals’ confidence is built, and Natuhereza acquired exactly that. That confidence saw him join Uganda Christian University (UCU) from London College of St Lawrence, where he did his A-level education, following his time at the American Embassy School, an international school in New Delhi, only to ascend to role of assistant coach to the American tutor, Jason Mehl of the UCU men’s team back in 2009.
But as fate would have it, Mehl’s time here was coming to an end. He returned to the USA in 2010, propelling Natuhereza to head coach surprisingly to fill a void.
To many, this was seen as a stopgap because Natuhereza had not had any substantial history in the domestic game, to be coach of any serious team.
ICONIC FIGURE
Natuhereza had been a fringe player at UCU, without a profile to easily have him get accepted to coach a team, that had in its first top-flight season in 2007, reached the semi-finals, losing 1-2 to eventual champions Falcons. Yet, how wrong they were, considering that six years down the road, Natuhereza has become an iconic figure in basketball around these parts.
And to Jeff Omondi, his former player at UCU, it is a real fairytale: “I used to coach this guy at UCU’s reserve team, JVU, how to be a good guard. But when he became my coach, up to this day, one great attribute he has is reading the game and scouting good players and developing them.”
Because of the nature of the game at the university, once you are done with your academics, you cannot play for the team. Natuhereza faced the same reality as anyone of having to leave after acquiring his degree in Broadcast Journalism in 2009. He had no job to go to at the time, choosing to stay around the team to serve.
But in the long run, Natuhereza has become integral in the whole UCU project, having the authority to choose which young basketballers from high school join
the university on sports scholarships.
This points to how he was always set to be a leader, as Omondi recalled: “Nick always woke us up in the wee hours to watch live NBA action. But each time, these games were our tutorials, as he used them to explain to us how he wanted us to play.”
However, it is through his leadership qualities, that he has actually managed teams with stars like Omondi, Jimmy Enabu, Sudi Ulanga, Martin Okwako and Desmond Owili without any fuss. While Natuhereza was friends with these players, hanging out whenever an opportunity provided itself, they always knew who was boss. You miss training at your peril.
At one point this year, he dropped his best player Brian Namake from his squad for arriving late for a game. This called for nerve; the kind that has seen him execute his work with utmost professionalism. It is such attributes, supported by his pursuance for coaching qualifications over the years, that have made him much sought after.
Besides coaching both the men and women’s teams at UCU, he coaches the national women’s basketball team, the Gazelles, and the national under-18 boys team. He led them to Rwanda in July for the continental youth championship.
ASTITUTE MANAGER
Notably, Natuhereza is yet to enjoy success with the men’s team at UCU as he has with the women. The closest he came was the 2015 men’s final, which City Oilers edged him out in 4-3. It was gut- wrenching.
But he is not giving up, as his wit has shown. He built a competitive side this year, despite losing seven players before the season began. Bob Buga, a former Fuba vice-president, charges that basketball is blessed to have a coach like Natuhereza because of his astuteness as a tactician and manager.
jovi@observer.ug