Photo: Shilla Buyungo
The Ugandan men’s national volleyball team has set an example for sporting teams across Africa as it appoints the country’s first national female coach, Shilla Buyungo.
Buyungo, who is regarded as the nation’s most qualified female coach, would be leading the volleyball team to the African volleyball tournament.
Her breakthrough came with the Kampala Amateur Volleyball Club in 2014, where she managed a team the entire season and won the Series A national league.
She later moved to Airforce Volleyball Club, and has trained the team from 2017 to 2021. Thus, she is generally believed to merit the position.
However, despite marking this landmark, the former women’s national team player is disappointed that a woman’s selection is regarded as a cause for celebration.
“It still beats my understanding why it’s still an issue of female or male but that’s how it is and that’s how I guess we have to fight in this world,” she says.
The national team’s captain, George Aporo, has promised that the team would do all within it’s powers to make the appointment a roaring success.
He says, “the boys are positive and we’re hoping that we’ll give it all our best such that she’ll have a good time with the team.”
However, the task before Buyungo is by no means a small one as Uganda are ranked 18th in the continent heading into the competition.
