Elect Vice President Kiggundu Abdallah has promised to positively expose the game of volleyball. Here are his words in an exclusive with Ground sports.
The Uganda Volleyball Federation elected its new Board of Administrators and last weekend the new officers were handed the office to commence their duties. Ground Sports visited Vice President Kiggundu Abdallah for a chat to find out his thought about taking the sport to another level.
Congratulations on your new positions in the Uganda Volleyball federation. What are your thoughts about moving from OBB management to UVF Board of Administrators?
“Thank you for my congratulations and I would like to take this opportunity to thank my delegates who moved all over the country to come and cast their votes in my favour. I am promising the volleyball fraternity that we are one. My role at the club of OBB in Iganga has been about exposing the boys of Iganga. Now I am taking this honour to assure the volleyball fans and sports lovers both at home and abroad that I am here to expose the game in a positive way,” said Kiggundu Abdallah.
“I am here to make sure we are putting structures whether I am going to be there, whether I will continue serving but at least we follow the structures. Even for those that will be coming in next. We want to set a protocol to be followed. Once that protocol is there, it will be easy for other people coming in to run the federation,” added Kiggundu Abdallah.
There is little media presence in volleyball, how do you plan to have more media presence for the sport?
“The way we have been playing especially in terms of the league in focus. You could find that OBB is going to be playing at Sport-S grounds in Nsambya, the next weekend again at the same venue. Do not expect so many fans to come there. But if you move to Entebbe for Airforce who are based there, let these teams go to Entebbe, there is a certain fan base you are targeting. The fans will see other seniors come to play their team which means there is something attractive they bring to that community. We want the base to expand. Expose the game all over the country which will also help clubs easily get sponsorship,” said the Vice President.
“As for media, in particular, there is something we are trying to organise. We are sending out letters to Club Presidents if at all they can send us there PROs as we are addressing the media people what exactly the game is about. What is the history of volleyball in Uganda, so that when they come to cover our match, there is an idea of the game. Otherwise, they come but do not know what they are covering,” Kiggundu Abdallah added.
How will you address the issue of teams having to travel long distances which means high costs to honour their league fixtures?
“About the teams incurring expenses, first, we have to appreciate the teams that have been travelling from far and managed to play in the league. These are the people coming from the upcountry areas we know that the economic status is not good contrary to the central. So, that means those in the central have more potential but that will not be an excuse to the federation. We have been engaging together with the President and I am sure that maybe before the league begins there will be a structure in place to see that some costs are shared,” said the Vice President.
When should the fans expect the league to happen?
“I can assure my volleyball family that we are working tirelessly to make sure that the league resumes as soon as possible and what I can assure you is that in a few months from now, we are begging the league and I am anticipating beach volleyball to begin very soon,” Kiggundu Abdallah said.
It has been quite a long time without any volleyball activities organised by the federation and expectations from the fans are high now that the new executives have settled in well. The only chance for action soon was the continental Women’s U20 Championship but that will not happen due challenges cited by the federation.
