The She Cranes have been commended by First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports Janet Museveni for what she termed as outstanding performance at the Netball World Cup.
Welcoming the netball players from Liverpool yesterday, the minister said they had done the country proud and rewarded each player and the officials with sh1m.
“You have done us proud and we even feel more proud of you because you are a disciplined group of sportswomen and you lift up our country’s flag high within the international sports community.”
The team had immediately headed to State House, Nakasero on arrival from Liverpool aboard an Emirates flight. The First Lady, flanked by sports state minister Charles Bakkabulindi, noted that Uganda had taken on a trajectory of improvement.
“I don’t doubt that we will continue to go from good to better and to the best, considering that in 1978 in Trinidad and Tobago you were 13th, in 2015 in Sydney, Australia you were 8th and now you are the 7th. You have consistently improved and strengthened our faith in you.”
She, however, appealed to the team to aim even higher with global accolades in mind. Team manager Jocelyn Uganda commended the government for supporting the team
She, however, noted that they are riddled with hardships.
“We lack standard netball courts. The team trains on the tarmac and this affects the health of players. Modern netball needs a spring floor. We also need a sponsor. We request you to kindly get us an investor or an NGO.
This would ease the pressure on the government.” she noted that much as their seventh-place finish was good and also entitled them to automatic World Cup qualification, it has to be maintained with good performance.
“We have to continue competing and winning internationally if we are to maintain the rating.”