Wafcon qualification triumph for reviving women football systems

Recently, a colleague asked what Uganda’s return to the Women Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon), after 22 years, can be attributed to.

The answer is beyond beating Ethiopia in the penultimate qualification round and securing a bye over warring Kenya in the final qualifiers.

Uganda had to work deliberately for seven years to put itself in such situation.

In 2013, Uganda was competing in the U-20 Women World Cup qualifiers. Before that, Uganda hardly took part in any competitions after the 2000 Wafcon and a generation of talent wasted away.

The 2013 squad included current national team stars; goalkeeper and captain Ruth Aturo, midfielders Tracy Jones Akiror and Hasifah Nassuna plus forwards Sandra Nabweteme, Viola Nambi and Ritah Kivumbi. 

They were looked at as the future even though all they had to show as experience was a couple of grassroots and schools football tournaments.

Uganda beat South Sudan 13-0 on aggregate, earned a bye against Egypt and then pulled out of the tournament ahead of the final tie against Ghana because Fufa felt they were not ready to compete at that stage.

Fufa instead elected to establish the Fufa Women Elite League (FWEL) in 2015 to give the girls more competition plus improve the coaching and later the Fufa Women Super League (FWSL) to start the pathway to professional women’s football.

The clubs pick their talents from schools and some schools have also created clubs to strengthen their school teams. It is a symbiotic relationship that has grown the quality and quantity of players more than tenfold.

The last iteration of the FWSL showed the progress made from 2015 as it was so competitive it was decided by the last kick of the ball between eventual champions She Corporate and their chasers Kampala Queens. Only goal difference separated them.

Phionah Nabbumba was named tournament most valuable player (MVP) but Uganda Christian University (UCU) Lady Cardinals forward Hasifah Nassuna also made it to 100 league goals in seven seasons. Defenders Margaret Namirimu and Lukia Namubiru also made noticeable efforts for Corporate and KQ respectively.

All 10 FWSL clubs bar She Maroons had a player summoned to the national team although some players had additional efforts as performers in previous set-ups and youth teams to back their claims for call-ups.

But matter of fact, all the 26 players - including the nine playing out of the country - in the Crested Cranes Wafcon squad can attribute their success to foundations made in the local leagues.

Nambi and Kivumbi were the first to leave, reportedly for professional football in Sweden, after playing for UCU in 2015 and since then it has been a relatively mad dash for Ugandan talent abroad. They were followed by Nabweteme in 2016, who went to Southwestern Oklahoma State University (Swosu) on a football scholarship.

She was followed there by Joan Nakirya and Sandra Nantubwe, who have both hardly been summoned to the national team. The scholarships continued in 2018 whenp Yudaya Nakayenze went to Seminole College in Florida and later Lindsey Wilson University in Kentucky, where she was followed by Tracy Jones Akiror the next year.

In between them, Fazila Ikwaput and Riticia Nabbosa had professional stints in India with Gokulam Kerala and the former also went to Kazakhstan where she represented BIIK Kazygurt in the Uefa Women’s Champions League.

Then little known Joan Nabirye, also moved to Vihiga Queens in Kenya in 2020. She has since been joined by a number of Ugandan players that did not honour their calls to the national team.

Nabirye, who got her competitive football initiation at Asubo-Gafford in the FWEL, made herself noticed through the Cecafa Caf Women’s Champions League qualifiers in Nairobi last August and at the finals of the competition held last November in Morocco.

The professional stints on the continent are also catching like a wild fire as Sheebah Zalwango is just one of players plying their trade in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It is not even clear how she got there but that got the former Asubo-Gafford midfielder to the national team.

Europe is now back as an option as Nabweteme has been to Iceland and hopes to move to Spain after Wafcon.

Aturo, Vanessa Edith Karungi, Juliet Nalukenge and Fauzia Najjemba are based in Finland, Denmark, Cyprus and Kazakhstan respectively.

Najjemba and Nalukenge, who is not in Morocco, were purely rewarded for their exploits for the national youth teams.

The U-17 Teen Cranes and U-20 Queen Cranes World Cup qualification campaigns and regional tournaments have helped rack up experience for some of the young players. Najjemba leads a host of young players trusted as good enough by Crested Cranes coach George Lutalo even though they are yet to celebrate their 20th birthdays. These include; Lillian Mutuuzo, Zainah Nandede, Margaret Kunihira, Shamirah Nalugya, Asia Nakibuuka, Sumaya Komuntale - whose club Tooro Queens has been relegated from the FWSL - plus Rines SS forward Joanita Ainembabazi, who did not represent the youth teams but is 18.

Aisha Nantongo who just celebrated her 20th birthday in April is also part of this group. In many ways, the success of the Crested Cranes is as a result of Fufa doing many things right. In the end, it just pays off.

Kampala Queens: Margaret Kunihira, Lillian Mutuuzo, Zainah Nandede, Shamirah Nalugya, Lukia Namubiru

*Fauzia Najjemba, who is at BIIK Shymkent in Kazakhstan is associated too

Lady Doves: Fazila Ikwaput, Riticia Nabbosa

She Corporate: Margaret Namirimu, Phionah Nabbumba 

*Denmark-based Vanessa Edith Karungi is associated 

Kawempe Muslim: Asia Nakibuuka, Aisha Nantongo

*Tracy Jones Akiror, now at Ann Arbor, plus unattached Sandra Nabweteme are associate 

UCU Lady Cardinals: Hasifah Nassuna

*Austria-based Viola Nambi, Sweden-based Ritah Kivumbi, US-based Yudaya Nakayenze and Finland-based Ruth Aturo are associated

Rines SS: Joanita Ainembabazi 

Uganda Martys HS: Daisy Nakaziro

Tooro Queens: Sumaya Komuntale 

*DRC-based Sheebah Zalwango and Kenya-based Joan Nabirye have roots in Asubo-Gafford