Ucanda hails investment and resilience after She Cranes' continental triumph

For eight years, Netball Uganda waited for another taste of continental glory.

The journey was filled with disappointment, lessons, rebuilding and difficult decisions, but the long wait finally ended when the She Cranes were crowned African champions.

For Netball Uganda president Jocelyn Ucanda, the triumph was not achieved overnight. It was the result of years of investment in the team, learning from setbacks and making bold decisions to prepare both the present and future generations.

"Winning a trophy after eight years takes a lot of investment in time, commitment, patience, resilience and hope. We remained focused and learnt from our losses and shortcomings, but we also listened to positive criticism," Ucanda said.

The victory has also strengthened Netball Uganda's resolve to build a sustainable team rather than depend only on experienced players.

"Netball Uganda knows that for every challenge there is an opportunity. We took a decision to rest some players after the Commonwealth Games and replace them with young ones so that we have experience and the future on the team. We keep building, enhance what we have and strengthen the squad with new members according to the needs of the squad," she added.

The team's transformation was also driven by a willingness to identify weaknesses, study opponents and introduce new approaches.

"We had to learn from our weaknesses and mistakes. We also had to benchmark others, but most importantly, come up with new tactics," Ucanda explained.

Adapting to changes in the rules of the game was another important part of the preparation. Netball Uganda facilitated Ugandan umpires to attend a three-day training course in Nairobi to ensure the technical team and players could prepare under the new regulations.

The investment is already yielding results. For the first time, Uganda had an umpire, Ali Mugisha, officiate at continental level.

"We trained umpires so we shall use them during training to ensure we adhere to the rules of the game during team preparation," Ucanda said.

With the African title secured, Netball Uganda is now turning its attention to the next phase. The federation plans to intensify efforts to attract sponsorship while launching talent identification programmes across the country to discover and nurture the next generation of She Cranes.

For Ucanda, the triumph is also personal. She became the second Netball Uganda president to win the Africa Netball Cup. She was part of the She Cranes management team when Uganda won the continental title in 2014, 2017 and 2018 under former president Susan Anek.