FUBA President Tashobya reveals secret to Uganda's basketball rise
KAMPALA (FIBA AfroBasket 2017) - Ambrose Tashobya is in his third four-year term as President of the Federation of Uganda's Basketball Association (FUBA), a tenure that has witnessed a remarkable growth
KAMPALA (FIBA AfroBasket 2017) - Ambrose Tashobya is in his third four-year term as President of the Federation of Uganda's Basketball Association (FUBA), a tenure that has witnessed a remarkable growth for the sport in Uganda.
Shortly after his return to office back in 2015, Tashobya promised to further market the game and ensured the national men's and women's teams would qualify for the continental events.
Those promises came true when the men's team made its first-ever appearance at FIBA AfroBasket 2015 in Tunisia, while the women's side secured a ticket for the Cameroon showpiece.
With another qualification ticket already in hand, Tashobya says the men's team has learnt its lessons and now looks forward to a better performance at FIBA AfroBasket 2017 in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo (August 19-30).
"On the success story of FUBA, I will tell you it has been down to grassroots development of the game and because we run the biggest league in our region," Tashobya said to FIBA.com. "Our focus has been on our league which forms the nucleus of our teams for international championships. The reason for this is to give our players a sense of belonging and letting them know that they are key to our success. That has played out for us in the qualifiers where we finished second place to Egypt."
He insists that things will change during FIBA Africa's flagship event.
"I want to let you know that we don't intend to play the way we did back in 2015 in Tunisia. Back then, it was our first time at the FIBA AfroBasket and we didn't have any experience and finished in 15th place. That will change in Congo-Brazzaville as we have set a new target of finishing top 10 for ourselves," he explained.
While many countries will call up their foreign legion to boost their chances to claim the crown in Congo-Brazzaville, Tashobya says his concentration will be on having his home-grown players do the job.
"No doubt we have some players abroad that would be useful to the team but in furtherance to building the confidence of our players in the national league, FUBA would give more spaces to them. At the end of the day, we might call up four players to join them”, he said.
FIBA