Makerere Sparks closed their first round of the 2025 FUBA Division One season with back-to-back wins against Amazon Rhino and Seeta High.

The Sparks had not won 2 games everytime they played back-to-back on a weekend and they were up to change that.

On Saturday 28th, the Sparks defeated Amazon Rhino 44-39.

Their star player Mercy Ageno registered a huge double-double, 13 points, 17 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 steals.

The following day, Makerere took on Seeta High, a team that had upset some teams.

In this one, the Sparks relied a lot of transition and they managed to get a win, 55-40.

Afua Nabawanga and Mercy Ageno were the Sparks’ star performers registering 19 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 11 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists respectively.

With these 2 wins, Makerere Sparks is in fifth place with a 7-4 record, tied with fourth placed Kampala University.

Why Is this first round regarded as impressive?

To put context to all this, allow me take you back 2 years ago when the Sparks announced the arrival of Coach Mavita.

At that time, Makerere had won just 2 games and in the final 5 games of the season, when she had arrived, the Sparks lost all.

However, a lot of things changed with her arrival and most of the players couldn’t live up to the standards that she had set.

As a result, Makerere had just 6 players in those 5 games and in the final game of the season, they closed with just 4 players.

In that game against Lady Jills, Makerere had only 5 players available and when Patricia got injured, they had to see the game out with only 4 players.

In the following season, only 2 of the 6 players from the season before were around and the Sparks had to build from scratch.

They had only 8 players for the first round and only 3 of these had ever played in the league.

All the rest were freshers, some had just started to play and the rest were from schools where Basketball wasn’t a big thing though they played a bit.

The Sparks registered only 3 wins in the first round and after a couple of additions in the second, they managed to win 5 more and made it to the playoffs.

When the quarter-finals came around, the Sparks played hard and pushed the eventual champions, Our Savior Banyabo, to the limit.

In games 1 and 2, Our Savior outscored Makerere by only a combined 4 points which was very small given the difference between the 2 teams.

In 22 games in the 2024 season, Makerere Sparks registered just 8 wins.

Fast forward to 2025, the Sparks have 7 wins in 11 games and knowing the journey of the team, this is nothing short of impressive.

Will Makerere Sparks make it to the NBL?

At the beginning of the season, the Sparks’ Coach made her intentions clear;

“To win the Championship”

Just making the final means you that you have already qualified for the NBL.

However what are the chances that Makerere makes it?

All four of the games that the Sparks have lost have been from teams above them namely, YMCA, Victoria She Crocs, Pearl Queens and Kampala University.

When you think about it though, the Sparks had Pearl Queens and Kampala University cornered for large segments of the game but they were unable to close.

That means that the gap is not far off and if they work on a couple of things, maybe they can get some wins against these ‘top’ sides.

When you think about the playoffs, Makerere may find themselves going up against 3 of these teams and the question is, can they defeat all of them in the different series?

That answer can only be seen after the games but one thing we know for sure is that the teams which have qualified to the NBL have been known even before the playoffs.

What makes one a winning team in Division One.

In the last couple of years, the teams which have qualified to the NBL were identified even before the playoffs.

In the 2024 season, Nkumba Lady Marines and Our Savior were the 2 favorites to make it to the NBL and they both did.

In the 2023 season, UPDF Lady Tomahawks and YMCA Lady Hamstars were the Juggernauts and they both made it to the NBL.

This time around, there are 3 teams, YMCA, Pearl Queens and Victoria, which are in prime positions to make it but Makerere and Kampala University are also very close.

How can Makerere make themselves a force?

The Sparks will be adding some players to their roster. One of the players has vast experience and will help the team when it comes to leadership.

The other is a rookie who has been learning at an incredible pace and could help the team in the paint given her side.

It has not been confirmed if the third player will join but if she does, she’ll help add flair and pace to how Makerere has been playing.

The 3 signings potential signings don’t elevate Makerere past the other 4 teams but they surely bring them closer.

One of the biggest problem for Makerere has been experience and it has affected them a lot.

This season, Makerere has utilized 13 players but only 6 players returned from the season before while the other 7 had no prior League experience.

As the games went by, some of them have been able to improve and are slowly getting better.

What can make the Sparks a force are the other othings that they do.

When Coach Mavita arrived, the team used to have only 2 training days but have since increased to 4.

She introduced a strength and conditioning session with Flaviah, a gym session, a film session, swimming session, brought in Coach Albert for skills sessions, brought in Coach Mark for shooting sessions and also made sure that Makerere has a medical kit that always has what is needed.

The team had one ‘old’ jersey and she made sure that they get 2 new kits on top of getting training kits and equipment for the S&C session.

If you look at what Makerere Sparks does off the court, there is not any team that comes close to doing that in Division One.

Of course the Sparks don’t have as much experience and skills as the other teams but they have resources that those teams don’t.

If the players can buy in more,  believe and utilize what the coach has made available, they will become so much better and hopefully win it all.

Most of the players from the other teams are paid or given scholarships but for Makerere, you get nothing.

As a player, you have to find what motivates and keeps you going.

That is what Makerere Sparks need: self motivated players who are willing to improve and leave everything on court.

The second round is expected to star on 19 July and Makerere Sparks’ quest for the Championship will be interesting to watch.