Not even contributing about 15% of the team’s budget would stop David Katende, the National of sports (NCS) assistant General Secretary to happily flag off financially struggling National men volleyball team and wish it success.
Katende flagged off the Volleyball Cranes on Friday at NCS offices, Lugogo to Kenya for the All Africa Games Zone V qualifiers this weekend.
Uganda volleyball federation (UVF) has a budget of Shs45m for the tournament but NCS only provided Shs7m, according to UVF President Hadijah Namanda.
“The tournament starts on Monday but the team will travel by road on Saturday night and we are yet to raise the budget which may force us to reduce on the travelling numbers,” noted Namanda, who revealed that accommodation alone takes $7,000. But despite the financial hiccups, Coach Andrew Okapis is optimistic the team will put the struggles aside and highly compete.
“We are aware of the challenges but we don’t want that to get to the players’ minds. The players are focused and ready to play,” said Okapis, whose target is to win the championship and qualify for All Africa games in Morocco.
Uganda that left on Saturday by road will start the campaign against Egypt on Monday before facing Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania respectively.
The Team
Setters: Smith Okumu, Moses Odeke
Receivers: George Aporu, Kurthbert Malinga, Johnson Rukundo, Allan Ejiet
Opposites: Daudi Okello, Ivan Ongom
Blockers: Saviour Atama, Dickens Otim, Ben Malinga, Sam Egawu
Liberos: Emma Elanyu, Elias Isiagi
