Star Profile: Sarah Nakiyunga, Arguably Among the Best Wing Attackers on the Land
With few days to Netball World Cup that is taking place on the African soil for the first time in history and Uganda is among the competitors, this website decided draw attention to your stars from She Cranes.
Sarah Nakiyunga Arguably among the best mid court players in the country is the player on podium to share her journey, the player many relate her to Ruth Meeme.
“Sarah [Nakiyunga], has a special talent, she does unique things on court compared to other mid court players of her age [22 years], she has those qualities of Meme and if she works on herself well, she can be like her, to me, She is a clear copy of Meme, she dictates, control the pace, a player with that final pass is Nakiyunga but she needs to get very serious of she is to emulate Meme. ” That is Mpoza Denis on Nakiyunga.
The player we are talking of, Sarah Nakiyunga nicknamed Serah Michelle was born on 12th, October, 2000 to Wasswa Daniel and Ms. Nakanwagi Justine the residents of Kakinzi 45 Luweero, central region.
Nakiyunga is the fourth child in a family of seven kids.
Education Journey:
Sarah finished her Primary education at St Mary’s Primary School, Luweero in 2013 before joining Broadway High School Kawempe for her secondary education, She spent only one yearr at the Kawempe based school and then in 2015 she switched to Ngando SS in Wamala Butambala where she finished her Advanced level education in 2019.
Currently Sarah is pursuing her bachelors in Mass Communication at Kampala University where she joined in 2021.
Netball Journey:
Nakiyunga started netball in 2011 while in primary five at St Mary’s Primary School, then she got more skill from Raymond the coach who joined the school in 2012 with Sharif Kiberu.
In 2014, Nakiyunga went for trials at Broadway High and she passed them, she was handed a half bursary at the school.
With her talent, Ngando SS spotted her when she was training with them when they camped in Luweero ahead of their 2015 Nationals, the same year, she left Broadway to Ngando SS the side that was offering her full bursary compared to the half she was getting at Broadway.
At Ngando, She won four district titles, four zone championships, she helped the school to finish fourth both in Nationals and East Africa School championships of 2019. Sarah also has two gold medals for UMEA championships.
While in Tanzania for East Africa Schools championships, Nakiyunga got a gig in Tanzania’s Netball Club, Arusha City Council where she spent a season before joining UPDF Netball Club in 2019.
“Since he was with me at Ngando, coach Sharif Kiberu asked me to join him at UPDF to help him, we really did well and we finished 4th in 2019.” Sarah narrates.
Nakiyunga later joined National Insurance Corporation in 2021 and in her first season, she won the league title.
“At NIC, there is a lot of competition, so my target was to have playing time at the club, it wasn’t easy in the first round but in second round I got it, you know clubs think that each year that comes, they can defeat NIC because it’s recruiting young players, so I also wanted to prove that, that even if we are young, but we maintain the status quo.”
Sarah had her maiden national team summon in 2021, she was again summoned in 2022 for Commonwealth games but never made the final cut until her golden chance arrived in 2023 and she is among the 15 players who are going to represent the country in the 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town South Africa.
Profile:
Name: Sarah Nakiyunga
Nickname: Serah Michelle
Date of Birth: 12th, October, 2000
Place of Birth: Kakinzi 45 Luweero
Parents: Wasswa Daniel and Ms. Nakanwagi Justine
Position: Wing Attacker/Centre
Strong Hand: Right
Strength: ball passing, accuracy and energetic
Weight: 68Kg
Height: 164cm
Previous Club: UPDF Netball Club
Current Club: National Insurance Corporation Netball Club.
Role Model: Serena Guthrie [England International] and Bongiwe Msomi [South African]
Credited people; Coach Noordin Kato Hassan, Hajji Najib Kivumbi, My Mother.
Achievements:
2019: MVP UMEA Games
2016-19: MVP district, zone and region.
2019: MVP in Tanzania league
Best Moments in Netball: The day I was summoned on national team.
Youth Netball Career:
2011-2013: St Mary’s Primary School
2014: Broadway High School
2015-2019: Ngando SS
Senior Netball Career:
2019: Arusha City Council Netball Club
2019: UPDF Netball Club
2021 to-date: National Insurance Corporation Netball Club
National Team:
Three Summons since 2021 and making debut in world cup 2023.