FUBA President: Gov’t investing in sport to advertise Uganda no-brainer

By D’zyre Derekford Mugumisa

While flagging off the U16 Junior Gazelles on Thursday to Kigali, Rwanda, where they will for the first time take part in the FIBA U16 Women’s African Championship, Federation of Uganda Basketball Associations president, Nasser Sserunjogi, wondered why it had taken Government so long to prioritize the funding of Ugandan sport, at least as a medium to promote Uganda’s tourism.

Yet again, in preparation to send out a team to represent Uganda, FUBA have struggled financially, but have vowed to not sit back and watch on.

“Government has got to prioritize sports funding, more so for national teams that go out to represent Uganda,” said Sserunjogi, before adding, “these are not private teams, they are national teams!”

The team only managed a 10-day camp at the African Business Institute because that is all they could afford. Contrary to belief that the institute offers free services for the national teams, FUBA have to part with a fee to camp there, with the advantage being that it is a cheaper option than a hotel, and comes with a basketball court.

To put this in perspective, 5-time reigning champions Mali arrived in Rwanda on Tuesday, 23rd July, 2019, by air - to acclimatize. Rwanda’s neighbors Uganda, who are taking part in the competition for only their first time, set off from Kampala on Friday 26th July, by road – a 10-hour journey. The competition starts Sunday 28th July, 2019.

For Sserunjogi, better-funded campaigns would be more effective in selling brand Uganda.

“When we hosted the recently-concluded FIBA Africa Zone V Championships, many countries came here to participate and spent thousands of dollars here, generated a lot of media publicity both locally and back in their homes, with many coming to watch the games,” said the FUBA president. He added, “Funding the national teams can therefore be cheaper and even more effective than say, the adverts we placed on CNN.”

Under these circumstances, the U16 Junior Gazelles hope they can finish among the top 2 so they can make the FIBA U17 Women’s World Cup 2020.

Their head coach, Roger Sserunyiigo, acting on volunteer basis, is confident the talent and determination on hand can compete with Africa’s finest, but that is all he can count on.

“We have had some (financial) challenges here and there but overcame,” Coach Sserunyiigo said, adding “We have added 4 girls to those that won the Zone V and the team should be able to compete.”

Uganda won the FIBA Africa U16 Zone V Championship, also the qualifier for the FIBA U16 Women’s African Championship, on first attempt. The federation are looking to focus on the grassroots, and taking part in such competitions takes center-stage for them.

“We want compete with the big names in African basketball such as Angola, Egypt, among others, and we need to start here. We want to be one of the top teams in Africa,” Sserunjogi said.

Nasser Sserunjogi was voted FUBA president in February 2019, having earlier served in the same federation as Vice President – Administration for 4 years.