Sabiiti Muwanga
8 November 2009
opinion
Kampala — THE success of the Hima Makerere 10s rugby tournament in attracting fans and, more importantly, sponsors, is an indication of how important administrative organization and a deliberate marketing strategy is to the commercial progress of any sport.
Over the past few years, rugby has been chided for drawing fans who know little about the finer elements of the game but are only interested in its social allure. However, that is to miss the point.
The knock-on effect of the attention rugby is commanding right now from fans and sponsors will be felt in the long-term. Already, the increasing popularity of the sport has ensured that the pool of young players the Uganda Rugby Union (URU) ordinarily relies on has expanded from the traditionalist elitist schools to cover a more nationwide-spread range.
In the future, with more people playing the sport at a young age and sponsors unreservedly pouring in money, rugby will become more competitive.
This approach has worked before with the country's biggest sport, football. Uganda was able to reach a position of strength between the 1970s and 1990s because of the popularity of the game among the youth. How many players, for example, were inspired to play the game by watching KCC train at Lugogo and SC Villa at Villa Park in Nsambya? They were several.
But the incessant squabbles in football have left the game on its decaying path while rugby goes ahead. The popularity of rugby today will, no doubt, bear the fruit of increased competitiveness in the future.
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