Dr. Maggie Kigozi has come out to praise the gradual growth of women’s sports in Uganda and the government’s commitment to supporting the sector, having earmarked it as a priority sector in the country, which led to an increase in its budget allocation.
Speaking to NBS Sport’s Nicole Apio on Tuesday morning, the first-ever female rider in the country acknowledged the fact that she couldn’t believe that women in Uganda are now actively participating in sports that were initially only regarded for men. “Women clearly have their feminine issues that stop them from participating in sports, and I feel so proud of women who are taking part in sports that were traditionally thought to be only for men, and it is unbelievable how well we are doing in rugby and cricket,” she said.
Dr. Maggie also compared the past times when she was still active in sports and said there were few women at that time; however, she was glad to see women slowly embracing sports, including motorsport, which she majored in. However, she said the numbers are still low for both men and women because motorsport is an expensive sport, and even for her to join the sport, it was because she grew up in a family of boys and was inspired by her brother, the late Paddy Blick. But still, she didn’t like the sport because she wanted to focus on school since she was a medical student.
When asked about the women’s day and how much she was seeing women succeed in sports, she said, “We fight for women’s rights every day; however, in Uganda, I do not know what sport pays well. At least during our time, we did it for fun and passion, and I have a feeling today it is the same thing. And you may be lucky to get a sponsor, and that is where I would love to see us going where the corporates are interested in the She Cranes because they have created such a big social media presence, and even their performance is great. Can you believe that they are number 6 in the world? We identified sports as a priority sector, and we are beginning to benefit from it since various companies are supporting different teams in the sector. You can’t do well without money; it is very hard. This will take some time, but let us trust the process.”
Maggie Kigozi advised the young female athletes to learn how to juggle both school and sports because both are important until they can reach a point where they can major in one and she also acknowledged that school doesn’t stop so there was no need for dropping out .
