Over the years being an ardent follower of sports, I’ve seen sports women and men who have used their voices and their platforms to stand for something. Since time immemorial, sports has always been used as a tool that brings the entire humanity together and over the course of time, we are seeing sports personalities that have come out to stand for causes like social justice, equality and so many more. We can start from Mohamed Ali who used his voice as the World Heavy Weight Boxing Champion to speak out on inequalities and racial prejudices to Colin Kaepernick in the NFL taking a knee during national anthems to protest police brutality against unarmed black men, to Lebron James who has coined the ‘More than an Athlete’ and he’s actively using his voice and resources to effect change.
Especially during these unprecedented times when the world is going through a raging pandemic that is close to completely reshaping our way of life, and with sporting activities in most of Africa at a standstill – I’ve been thinking, “how can sports personalities in Uganda whose voice is virtually non-existent remain relevant under the prevailing conditions?”
While on the DoubleDown Show, Isaac ‘LK4’ Lugudde hinted on what basketball players need to do to brand themselves so that they can create opportunities for themselves and others even whilst off the basketball floor. Lugudde mentioned that Ugandan athletes have disassociated themselves even from the least of causes as little as having a clean neighbourhood in communities where they live. As such, they have absolutely no value add and no brand would stitch itself to a personality that has no value addition.
The NBA was able to restart at the Bubble in Orlando but that was largely because they have the financial means to do it. In Uganda, our league has gone quite a while without sponsorship and this is something Hajji Mohamed Santur, the Patron of the City Oilers and the GM of the Silverbacks and Gazelles mentioned while on the DoubleDown Show. I’ll jump back on the value add notion. I’m convinced that even before players should engage in socially relevant causes, there should be a direct ploy by the league to organize these players in this pursuit as seen with NBA Cares. The value we add must be felt in the communities.
I will continue to make reference to the NBA and WNBA restart where the league and the players have dedicated the rest of the season to Social Justice, Equality and support for the Black Lives Matter movement. And in the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake, the Milwaukee Bucks protested by forfeiting a playoffs game against Magic and other teams followed suite. Interestingly, the league has showed support and it’s been frontline news. Just that course of action let the entire world know that something is happening over there and change is demanded. My ponder though, would the league here even ever give such an outlandish idea of forfeiture an ear or their first reaction will be to cut points?
We live in a world where athletes can no longer just shut up and dribble. A world where Olympic gold medallists and World Record Crushers should be empowered to be more than just symbols of national pride but also change agents.
Here in Uganda, I wonder who propagated the notion that athletes should not have a voice or be socially relevant in their communities! I wonder the last time I saw an athlete lead the way on fixing anything broken in their communities or stand for something larger than self and be supported by their respective federation. When Lugudde at length spoke about the BLM while on the DoubleDown Show, a viewer opined that the discourse dwelled so much and that “he should leave issues of politics” – yet there was plenty of basketball to talk about. But Kevin Durant once said, ‘If basketball is all I’ve ever been good at, then I have terribly failed.’
I can’t finish this without highlighting causes like Score Beyond which is supporting girl education through sports, Hoops of Hope Initiative which is supporting young people with clothing in Northern Uganda and Stephen Kiprotich who’s using his personal networks to build a performance enhancement facility to help athletes reach their optimum potential.
Let’s then all reject the thesis that we are unqualified to raise our voices on issues affecting our communities and not just raising voices but also to act on making the difference where we can.
By Cucu Brian | on Twitter @Cucubrian
The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily the opinions of Basketball256.net but those of the underwritten writer. You are welcome to make any additions or deductions through commentary to this article.
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