It’s time for netball to turn page for good

Few statements are as loosely used as ‘new era or a new dawn’. We are such a positive society that we celebrate almost every change.
Our hope is never diminished by failure or history. The future is bright, so goes the motto of many schools.
Across many spheres of our society, the hope is eternal and Ugandan sport has had its fair share of eras and dawns. Most turn out to be false dawns.
For long, netball was not given attention until 2015 when the national team – She Cranes – returned to the World Cup for the first time since 1979.
That event in Sydney, Australia, felt like a gravitational force and more than a turning point for the sport.
The team would again qualify for the global showpiece in 2019 and 2023. Some things started to change in this period with the players.
Ms Peace Proscovia led the way by turning pro. Mary Nuba, Stella Oyella, Hanisha Muhammad, Shadia Ssegujja Nassanga, Shalfie Nalwanja, Faridah Kadondi and Christine Namulumba have all had professional stints.
By all parameters, this represents growth but not all has been rosy as the game has sunk locally due to administrative strife.
It all started to go wrong when former Uganda Netball Federation (UNF) president Sarah Babirye Kityo was accused of misappropriating government funds.
The accusations and counter-accusations between her and the National Council of Sports (NCS) general secretary Bernard Patrick Ogwel got very ugly.
In the end, Kityo was removed from office and a normalisation committee constituted. This committee was charged with rewriting the body’s constitution and organising elections.
They finished their task last week and sanitised it by changing the name of the federation from UNF to Netball Uganda (NU).
The argument is that UNF is tainted and irredeemable. The change of name is part of that process to give the sport a new-look. 
In addition, elections for new office bearers have been set for October 26. Even if some of the resolutions of the extraordinary assembly are contested, there was need for change.
The interim president, Maj Gen Flavia Byekwaso, and some delegates were locked out of the meeting that passed the constitution and rubber-stamped this ‘new era’.
It is good that there are dissenting voices but the beating the sport has undertaken over the past two years must be the focus of all parties.
The national league has not been for ages. Most players have consequently run to basketball and handball among other sports disciplines.
For all the World Cup appearances and players turning pro, the sport needs another fresh start in a country where hope is eternal.