Kyadondo Rugby Club could not have chosen a more perfect campaign to headline their home circuit in this year’s national 7s series.
The aim of the ‘Kyadondo Is Home’ campaign was to amplify Kyadondo’s role as a home for rugby enthusiasts and a nurturing ground for the rugby community in Uganda while showcasing its profound impact beyond rugby.
So, throughout the two-day event last weekend, there were small yet highly glamorous activities that did just that. And also celebrated the club’s impact on the rugby community in Uganda and its wider influence on individuals’ lives over the years.
One of them was the match ball delivery to the centre spot before kickoff done by various distinguished individuals. Not selfishly from Kyadondo alone but Ugandan rugby in general. Plus, the honour was also shared with individuals from other sports, and those from outside active sports as well. Both locally and internationally. It was a prestigious activity with a touch of class.
Brian Tabaruka, the Kyadondo Rugby Club chairperson, revealed to Kawowo Sports that the organising committee listed over a hundred people they felt would fit simple criteria in line with the campaign.
“Kyadondo is home like we noted. And (so) the biggest criteria were for those who have served the club for a long time or have impacted the club to a large extent,” Tabaruka said via a phone interview on Tuesday afternoon.
“We had a sub-committee part of the (local) organising committee of the tournament that was tasked to put together the list of names. I don’t think we exhaustively listed everybody that could be due this honour but we left it to the sub-committee to decide on those that they think should be the ones selected for the process.”
Those that made it through this criteria included former and upcoming players, coaches, officials and administrators, long-serving staff and service providers, club patrons, partners, associated parties and clients, service providers, athletes from other sports, and veteran sports journalists.
Let’s begin with the veteran players themselves. They included Edgar Lemeriga, Brian Makalama and Charles Onen (all now coaches), Roger Ssebina (now World Rugby Commissioner), women’s rugby in Uganda founders Helen Koyokoyo Buteme (now a coach but still actively playing), Saudah Adiru Jamilah (now a World Rugby Level 3 Referee, URU Training and Education Manager and Citing Commissioner), and Winnie Atyang (flanked by her teenage twin daughters Phyllis and Tamara with whom she plays for Thunderbirds). And, of course, Uganda’s greatest-ever international rugby export, Philip Wokorach.
Those whose careers are just getting started also took part. Kyadondo age-grade rugby programme players Kennedy Sabila, Benjamin Eceru, Jeremiah Otieno, Kenneth Enagu, and Ivan Nfumbi. Most notably, Peter ‘Coach Sky’ Ochol, under whose tag rugby programme at Kyadondo since 2000, young talents have emerged.
Current and former club chairpersons included Ian Walker (flanked by his son Liam Walker who plays for Toyota Buffaloes), Dr Tonny Stone Luggya (KOBs Rugby Club), Daniel Canowera (Black Pirates RFC), Duncan Kirya Kawanguzi (founding member of Walukuba Rugby Club), and Tabaruka himself.
The long-serving staff included chief groundsman George Okwir who has tended the Kyadondo playing surface for eighteen years. And Michael Oroma, the longest-serving vendor since 1999, whose barbecue grilled pork is one of the main attractions to Kyadondo.
Deborah Sifuna Mileke (mother to the Aredo brothers), for her generous support to Ugandan Rugby for over a decade, also took part.
Samuel Asiimwe Rwakijuma (current Uganda rugby men’s 7s national team physiotherapist) represented the Uganda Rugby Medical Society while Sauda Adiru represented the Uganda Rugby Referees Association.
Veteran sports journalists Johnson Were (who has covered rugby since 2002) and Swaib Raul Kanyike (who played some rugby with Stallions and Warriors) were selected as well.
In what Tabaruka said that showed “Kyadondo is home to other sports apart from rugby”, personalities from other disciplines like basketball, cricket and netball were also selected.
They included Davis Karashani (former Uganda Cricket Cranes captain) and Consy Aweko Nimungu (current captain of Victoria Pearls – Uganda cricket women’s national team), She Cranes (Uganda netball women’s national team) players Hanisha Muhammeed and Faridah Kadondi who just returned from a successful Netball World Cup 2023 campaign in Cape Town, South Africa, Eric Malinga (current Namuwongo Blazers men’s basketball team coach), and Gazelles (Uganda basketball women’s national team) player Melissa Akullu who had just returned from an exciting FIBA AfroBasket 2023 campaign in Kigali, Rwanda.
The organisers would never have exhausted the full list within the forty-five scheduled matches of the Kyadondo 7s circuit. Tabaruka thinks this activity will evolve and flow over into future events.
“It’s one that we think will be an annual event. Whoever that was missed out this year, will/can be invited to the next one. There could be a question of ‘why not x and y?’ (but) I believe we shall get there. It was a good initiative and we can look at covering all the other people that were missed out at the next event.”
“It’s something that we have kickstarted this year and I would love to see it continue even when we’ve stepped down from our positions in office. I think it’s a culture that we need to pick on and I would love to see other clubs do the same as well. It would be nice for them to recognise people that have served their clubs for a long time.”
Different events hosted by different organisations should have distinct memorable themes and campaigns. ‘Kyadondo Is Home’ at the Kyadondo 7s 2023 circuit was a hit.
