The Uganda Netball national team, She Cranes received an emphatic warm welcome back home from the World Cup in Sydney, Australia on Tuesday.
Having broken a 36 year lull from the global Netball fiesta, Uganda finished 8th of the 16 participating countries in the two week event.
Each of the 12 players on the team donned a white collar T-Shirt with a number eight figure and black trousers.
After a 13 hour journey from Sydney, the team eventually touched down at the International airport of the Lake Victoria peninsular town, Entebbe.
The wide ear to ear smiles for each and every member on the contingent off the Emirates Airlines flight EK 729 easily covered up for the weary bodies following weeks of intense preparations and the breathe catching and tension packed matches at the world cup.
Happy friends, relatives and the team well wishers carried colorful scented fresh flowers and the warm embraces given to each member of the squad communicated the excitement of the moment.
The team captain, Peace Proscovia, who turns out for United Kingdom’s Loughborough Lightening Netball Club was overwhelmed by the massive support received.
The towering sharp shooter, the fifth top scorer at the World Cup said;
We are so happy for this support. We tried our best in each and every match played. We thank God that we first of all qualified and with good preparation, we shall do better.
The team was later driven to the Parliamentary chambers where they were accorded special recognition.
Winifred Kizza, the Kasese Woman Member of Parliament passed a special motion of recognition before the attentive honourable parliamentarians whose boiled up session of multiplying districts was briefly halted, saying;
You made us proud, we are so happy as a country for your great representation at the global stage.
The She Cranes won two games and lost six games to finish eight overall.
Uganda opened with a resounding 74-38 victory against fellow African representatives, Zambia in Pool A. They returned with yet another ruthless attack against Fiji before losing games the rest of the games to Wales (2), Malawi, Jamaica, New Zealand and South Africa.
Uganda had last qualified for the Netball World Cup in 1979 – a global showpiece that was held in Trindad and Tobago.
The next Netball World Cup will be held in 2019 in Liverpool, England.