She Cranes desperately need more playing time

If the last netball league match was played in May of 2023, why would it surprise anyone that the She Cranes are not shooting on all cylinders in the Vitality Cup? For the first time in over two years, Ugandans watched the national team lose to both South Africa and Malawi in the same tournament.

The last time this happened was in the 2019 World Cup but for it to happen two days back-to-back is a bad omen.

Uganda is known for their patient netball but it beggars’ belief how disjointed they have been.

Seeing their passing game breakdown with each quarter that came is indicative of a side that lacks match fitness.

Some of the players on the team could be going through some sort of exhaustion mentally because they have played for this national team nonstop over the last few months.

Maybe they need a breather and also there is a school of thought that thinks maybe it was not the right move to not recall coach Nelson Bogere after the Africa Cup. Perhaps during this period of time what this side needed was some continuity.

This team in the span of a year has used three different coaches albeit the last two coaches worked under the Normalisation Committee.

I do not think it would be fair to pass judgement on the new administration using this one engagement but they need to fight to get back in the government’s good graces. They need to get back to a place where there is a hunger to win and succeed.

Uganda failed to match Malawi in another loss. Courtesy Photo

Unfortunately, the fact that illness seeped into the players' camp makes any performance-based judgement harsh.

When the She Cranes are performing well, the whole country is happy but when they are not questions have to be asked.

Not only have they been the face of women's excellence in sports, but they have also given those who long gave up on women's sports hope.

The bad performance could be the opportunity president Jocelyn Ucanda and her executive need to rectify a system that was broken a few years ago.

It is a good thing that the new netball calendar was released last week so for sure the sports stakeholders should have some optimism.

Perhaps in order to get back to the top of their game, the best thing about netball which is the brand She Cranes needs to hit rock bottom before things get better.

The signs were there when they lost to Zimbabwe at the Africa Cup. A good number of girls have had recurring injuries and those also hamper great performance.

The idea that they play in the best arenas in the world and then come back to train in substandard outdoor courts should cause worry.