Ubumwe BBC head coach Esperance Mukaneza promises that her side will come back stronger next season.
Ubumwe BBC head coach Esperance Mukaneza, who said that she is not happy with how her side emerged 3rd behind RP-IPRC Huye and champions The Hoops Rwanda at the end of the season promises her fans that the team will be back stronger next season.
Following the stoppage of the BKBNL in March, Ubumwe was placed 2nd with 3 wins in five games which gave them the right to play in the BKBNL closing tournament. Ubumwe played 5 games, won only 2 games and these were against unfit APR BBC. They finished 3rd, a result that did not impress their head coach Mukaneza who testified that she wanted the trophy.
In an interview with the head coach, Ground-Sports wanted to find out what the team lacked to achieve the desired results. Coach Mukaneza told us that the injuries were at the forefront of the hindrances to winning the trophy but added that they are going to prepare for next year and come back strong.
Mukaneza said, “We are not happy with the results we got this season but we accepted it. A third place in the league of 6 women’s teams in Rwanda is not bad at all. These games (BKBNL Closing tournament games) were difficult for us due to the time we spent without playing (lockdown time). We had many injuries as our captain (Aisha) was injured during the training sessions and she did not help us as much as usual. We wanted to win the trophy but it did not happen but it showed us that we are a team that can compete. Next year we will back strong and hope that we will win the league.”
She added, “We wanted a title but for real when people play there has to be a winner and the way I wanted the trophy is the same way my fellow head coaches wanted it too. So, they had something special ahead of me, they won it!”
About her player, Sarah Ageno, the coach said the injury she got at the start of the season was huge frustration and created a huge gap. She said, “Sarah Ageno was injured in the first match of the regular season. The match we played against IPRC Huye, she broke her knee. As you know, players always want to play so, she made the injury worse by playing. Even in the BKBNL, she wanted to play but we refused since she was not yet well recovered. We are still providing medical service for her. The player wants to play but we as parents at Ubumwe can not risk her life for a game. She has to recover first. Her knee is being treated and we are helping her get treatment. She is our player next season.”
Mukaneza stated that despite not reaching their target in this season, she has something to be proud of this season.“Kabarere Jovithe. I thank her for the excellent behavior, she is a lady with a young child who gave birth last year. It is clear that in the COVID-19 lockdown, she prepared and practised a lot because she later lost 15 kilogrammes so she played many minutes in these games,” said the coach.
She continued, “Irakoze Ange Nelly, 19. She has enhanced her performance a lot this year and her improvement is evident. There was also Akon who helped us a lot.”
She highlighted the individual performance of Rose Akon who played for Ubumwe in the Basketball league closing tournament. “Her performance is unparalleled, she is the one who has scored the most points in this tournament even more than those who have won the trophy. We give credit for that.”
Asked if they will keep her in Ubumwe, the head coach replied, “I want to keep her but it is not easy because she is still a student at Uganda Christian University. But we are still in negotiations. It is not over.”
What can we expect from Ubumwe next season?
“Ubumwe will come back higher than we ended this season. The organization in the team is getting better and we are looking forward to recruiting more players, we want to add a point guard to help Georgia,” she replied.
