We want to Create a Great East Africa Chapter of Retired Women Sporties, GSP Alumni
By: kayiirajackson@gmail.com
The Alumni of the Global Sports Mentorship Program, an initiative sponsored by United States Department have come up to create an East African chapter that will see former athletes in the region be productive after active sports.
The two Alumni of the program from Uganda, former crested Cranes coach and a CAF coaching instructor, Majidah Nantanda and Busitema University Sports Tutor, Professor Baluka Agnes Masajja have invited the retired players of Women at Kyadondo rugby ground and the event took place on Sunday, 18, March 2024. These Alumni also invited their fellows from Kenya; Grace Kiraguri, Veronica Osogo, Cynthia Coredo Moses –
Founder Footsteps and Immaturate Onyango.
This initiative, they expect to bring together all the former Sporties especially women in East Africa, they are looking at the former players to have value and be productive even after the active football under the umbrella, GSP East Africa Chapter.
The organizers and the retired players reacting on the initiative;
“I saw an opportunity in the management and marketing of sports and that’s how I envisioned it as a business platform, and therefore my message to people in sports is that there is a lot of opportunity in the sports sector, you can do branding, event management, photo journalism. So today we’re here to give the team hope that besides being very strong on the pitch you can also be strong off the pitch.” Says the founder of Icon Sports Marketing Agency and the an Independent Sports Marketing Consultant, Grace Kiraguri, from Kenya.
“Today we’re here in Uganda to meet the retired sports woman especially in football, it’s one of our initiative under the global sports Mentorship program to have the ladies in East Africa to share and see how we can come together and sensitize the younger girls how they can be productive after football or sports and our target is to see that in few years, we can have a strong foundation of East African ladies in Sports who have a strong voice.” Says Veronica Osogo, the Founder of Zion Zone Tennis Foundation and an Alumni of Global Sports Mentorship Program.
“The event was very successful, the turn up has been good, I thought we’re going to have like 30 people but we got more than 130 people, I am happy that I saw the retired players from the 1989, those I played with, those I coached and those retired after. So we want to see that this project runs every year and maybe even to have the oldies league where we can always meet and interact and empower ourselves.” Says Majida Nantanda the event organizer.
“We’re here to interact and our aim is to make the public know that we’re still there, and I encourage all other retired players to come and join us because now we have started.” Said the former football, Nakimbugwe Annet and a mother to Hasifa Nassuna.
After the meeting where they shared ideas as well as donating sanitary towels, they formed teams according to clubs and universities and played against each other, they formed six teams.