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How Uganda became a habitual Netball World Cup contestant
Norah Lunkuse is going to her first World Cup but will want many more. PHOTO/JOHN BATANUDDE
What you need to know:
The team’s preparations for their return to the global showpiece included participation in the Africa Netball Championships hosted by Malawi in 2013.
The She Cranes made their Netball World Cup debut in 1979 in Trinidad and Tobago and that proved to be their one and only appearance till 2015.
At the tournament, they managed a 13th place finish out of the 19 participants but could not return to another World Cup due to financial issues and lack of interest by the federation.
However in 2013, they embarked on a journey to see them qualify for the World Cup again.
The team’s preparations for their return to the global showpiece included participation in the Africa Netball Championships hosted by Malawi in 2013.
It took a week for the ill prepared team to travel to Blantyre by bus.
Despite all these challenges, the team finished joint third with Zambia behind South Africa and Malawi.
Uganda could later stand heads and shoulders above everyone during the 2014 African qualifiers where they won all their matches to break the 36yr absence from the Netball World Cup.
By mid July in 2015, the She Cranes were already in training camp under coach Fred Mugerwa. However, a week before the Championship, the veteran coach was sacked by the netball federation and replaced by Rashid Mubiru who led the team to their second World Cup.
The She Cranes lost their first group fixture to New Zealand but beat Zambia 74-38 and also defeated Fiji 61-40 to reach the second group stage.
In the classification game, Uganda lost 61-40 to finish eighth.
English side Loughborough Lightning spotted former captain Peace Proscovia during the 2015 World Cup.
The netball world took notice of Uganda’s Netball at the 2015 World Cup.
In 2017 Uganda hosted and won the Africa Netball Championships, a trophy they would defend in Zambia in 2018 before surrendering it to South Africa in 2019.
This performance saw the She Cranes gradually rise in the world rankings from 13th to seventh.
The She Cranes still qualified for the 2019 Netball World Cup in Liverpool, England. The Vincent Kiwanuka coached side finished seventh a place better than their previous performance in 2015.
The She Cranes are now looking forward to an even better performance come July 28 this year as they take to court in Cape Town, South Africa.
