Three national league titles and now a Zone V championship but City Oilers are not done yet.
The Africa Club Championship is the new target for the Ugandan side and when they fly to Egypt to take part in their maiden edition later this year, Oilers will aiming for the top.
“We are a very ambitious team and we want to go and compete,” head coach Mandy Juruni told the press as the team presented the title to City Tyres management Tuesday morning.
Juruni’s boss, Hajji Mohamed Santur made his words even clearer.
“We shall aim for the moon and maybe we shall be able to land among the stars,” he said when asked about the team’s ambition at the championship in December.
Oilers qualified for the championship after lifting the Zone V title last Friday in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Steady Progress
For five years now, City Oilers have given real meaning to the ‘steady progress’ dogma.
Started in 2011, Oilers made their way to the top by finishing second in the Development League before winning the Division I championship in 2012 to gain promotion to the top division.
They have not stopped winning since then.
The 4-3 series win over Falcons in 2013 marked the start of Oilers’ league dominance here in Uganda and have since won three in a row.
Easily the best team in the country, Oilers set their eye on something bigger than just the league title.
Their first attempt at the Zone V Clubs championship in 2014 saw them win bronze in Mombasa, Kenya and that gave the team belief that it wasn’t impossible to conquer the zone.
“It was out target and winning it is not by accident,” Juruni, who has led the side to a 3-peat in the league, revealed.
Two-time Zone V MVP Landry Ndikumana was scouted from Burundian side Urunani and helped the side to a second place finish in Kigali, Rwanda as Oilers fell to Egyptian side Gezira in 2015.
This year, Oilers added guard Jonah Otim and center Brian Ssentongo to the side.
They also made use of US-based Stanley Ocitti to lift their first piece of silverware at a regional level.