Athletes urged to speak up
Involved. Athletes during one of the group sessions at their two day conference. PHOTO/COURTESY
What you need to know:
UOC general secretary Beatrice Ayikoru said that the “voices of athletes matter a lot and we are trying to encourage them to start their commissions in their federations which help raise their issues. We will definitely continue to have such events.”
It is not often that you find five Ugandan Olympians in one room.
Usually, that is a preserve for state functions or maybe their flag off and dinners. However, on Friday and Saturday last week, 2012 Olympian Ganzi Mugula, led his 2020 male colleague Shadir Musa and female counterpart Shida Leni, plus the three time Olympians Winnie Nanyondo and Halima Nakaayi in an Athletes’ Conference at Nob View Hotel, Ntinda.
“When I was young, my mother used to speak about my uncle Benjamin Nduga (sprinter at Uganda’s first Olympics in 1954 in Melbourne) like he was superman and from then on, I decided to be an Olympian. It took me 12 years of trying but I eventually made it,” Mugula said as he introduced his colleagues, spoke about goal setting and advocated for athletes to pursue side careers that will come in handy when their active days are done.
Nakaayi, a 2019 World Champions in the 800m, joined by saying “I have had many achievements but the day I graduated (in Computer Science and Information Technology at Kampala University) tops it all because at some point in my career, my mother told me to do whatever I wanted as long as I completed school. It felt like I had to grant her her wish,” Nakaayi shared with the athletes.
Top of the agenda at the conference was teaching athletes about; Olympic values – a session conducted by Uganda Olympic Committee administrator Elijah Njawuzi while Leticia Namutebi taught about the role of the UOC’s athletes’ commission and Sayson Meya handled gender based violence issue – all in the hope that the available athletes from various sports disciplines could take the message back to their colleagues right from the grassroots.
“We did not expect the positive response but the federations helped us push for the numbers. The athletes have been actively involved in all activities of the conference and want to be part of what we are doing as a commission, which is basically creating awareness and letting them know their rights,” Namutebi, who is also a member of the Normalization Committee for Netball Uganda, said.
UOC general secretary Beatrice Ayikoru said that the “voices of athletes matter a lot and we are trying to encourage them to start their commissions in their federations which help raise their issues. We will definitely continue to have such events.”
