Uganda: Crested Cranes Draw Positives From Cecafa

By John Vianney Nsimbe

Despite losing three out of their five games, Uganda's female national football team, Crested Cranes, picked up some positives from the regional Cecafa women's championship that ended on Tuesday at the Fufa Technical Centre in Njeru.

The Crested Cranes kicked off the tournament with a 0-4 loss to Kenya, but bounced by thrashing Zanzibar 9-0 and beat Burundi 1-0 in the group games to storm the semifinals.

They, however, suffered back-to-back 1-4 losses to Tanzania and Ethiopia in the semifinal and third-place play-off matches respectively. Tanzania won the tournament after beating Kenya 2-1 in the final.

Although it was disappointing Uganda could not use home advantage to emerge champions, there is a silver lining on this dark cloud. For the Crested Cranes, this tournament was about gaining more experience after years of lull in women's football.

Just as there had not been a women's Cecafa championship since 1986, the local national women's elite league is in its second year. It is dominated by school-going girls and young women still trying to cut their niche. This implies, as coach Majidah Nantanda noted, they need time to realize their potential.

Therefore, this team must be kept together and given more exposure to develop, the same way Kenya, the dominant force in the region, have. One cannot help wondering whether Uganda would not have been on equal footing with Kenya, had the 2008 team, with talents like Aisha Kaggwa been maintained.

It probably would have been a classic seeing Kaggwa teaming up with today's protégés, Hasifa Nassuna and Dorcus Ipwokot, who have impressed with their goals.

In hosting the Cecafa, Fufa is said to have scored with the world football governing body, Fifa, for promoting women's football, even without a corporate sponsor.

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