Basketball teams were hit with the absence of Netball players who play both sports.

Some of the Netball teams are currently in Zanzibar participating in the East Africa Championship.

The Ugandan teams representing are KCCA, NIC and Prisons for the ladies while Kampala University and WOB are representing the men.

There are very many players that double as Basketball players and their absence has affected some teams.

The team that was heavily affected was the KIU Rangers who lost 4 players and ultimately lost their  game, 72-63 to the Magic Stormers.

The Rangers played with only 6 players and finished with 5 after Patience Karungi departed halfway through, to go and do an exam.

The other players, Namulema Fildauce, Nanyonga Florence, Racheal Nanyonga, and Nanfuka Stella, are all in Zanzibar for the championship.

The Magic Stormers also did not have the services of Christine Nakitto and Ruth Nambirige who have been their top rebounders.

The JKL Lady Dolphins lacked the services of Shadia Nassanga who had registered a double-double in each of her last 2 NBL games.

Her absence wasn’t a big miss as the Lady Dolphins cruised to a 79-53 victory against the Miracle Eaglets.

Fortunately, there was no Basketball action and the games which were scheduled for Saturday were postponed.

The JT Lady Jaguars, Magic Stormers, KIU Rangers, JKL Lady Dolphins, KCCA Leopards, and UPDF Lady Tomahawks were all supposed to be in action and each has an integral player who is away in Zanzibar.

In the last 2 years, the netball league was off and most Netball action wasn’t available.

As a result, most of the top athletes in Uganda Netball started excelling in basketball as they gave it a lot of time.

Most notably is Mercy Batamuliza who was the league’s top Rebounder and was also named in the team of the season.

Christine Nakito also emerged as a very huge and integral player for the Magic Stormers while the KIU Rangers quartet helped them to reach a final in 2023 and the semifinals in 2024.

These Netball stars have become very big assets and losing them for a particular game or spell of games could prove catastrophic for teams.

In February, during the FUBA Division One Finals between the Nkumba Lady Marines and Our Savior Banyabo, we saw how much of an impact these Netball stars have on their teams.

When Privas Kayeny and Penlop Amiya were present for Nkumba, they were unstoppable.

But after their departure, Nkumba looked very ordinary and ultimately lost the final.

In this season, Privas has only played 4 games for Nkumba and it’s very evident how much they need her.

Despite playing 6 games fewer, she is fourth in scoring with 53 points, second in rebounds with 47, third in steals with 11, leader in blocks with 4 for her team.

On average, she leads her team in 4 of the top 5 categories, with assists being the exception.

She averages 13.3 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 2.5 steals and 1 block.

All in all, 2025 season and going forward is going to be very tough for the teams that rely on Netball players because the programs of the 2 sports will clash on numerous occasions.

According to one of the girls, Netball is the priority!