According to a study done by the ARC Center of Excellence in Population Ageing Research, the average peak performance age of an elite (Olympic) athlete is around 26 years.
In the study, rugby is classified as a ‘high impact sport’ in which players are required to have a wide range of skills and physical abilities, which tends to narrow the window of peak performance. This means that players do not stay active for long outside the age when they are at their best physically.
With that said, Ugandan rugby is an industry and community where players pick up the sport at a late age (usually teenage at high school) and generally walk away quite early (usually mid-twenties after university).
However, there are some individuals who have tossed such important research and statistical trends into the bin and remained active way beyond those limits.
This piece shines a light on those phenomenal men and women whose sheer determination has kept them evergreen.
1 Faisal Gamma
Faisal Gamma is the undisputed veteran of Ugandan rugby. He has played at the top pyramid from the late 1990s and is still going strong nearly thirty years later having featured in the pre-season 2026 Masters Challenge.
It’s so easy to miss him and not know that he has seen generations come and go like ebbing tides. Not only does Gamma not look his age at all but he also plays with such panache that he fits in seamlessly with youngsters who were born after he had already won his first major championship.
2 Scott Oluoch
Scott Oluoch needs no introduction in Ugandan rugby. And the rest of the East African region. He is one of the most prominent figures within the sport, having announced his arrival as a muscular wrecking ball in the mid-2000s.
To this day, whether starting or coming off the bench, his introduction onto the pitch is welcomed by cheering fans of his own team, and the opponents’ too.
3 The Aredo Brothers
This was number three on purpose. Erasmus, Gabriel and Joseph, in that order, are the Aredo brothers.
Because they picked up the game at an early age, the Aredo brothers, especially Gabriel and Joseph, are some of the longest serving players who fall in that not-young-but-not-old-yet classification.
They played for Warriors when it was still known as Summerkamp, and now Joseph is one of the most senior Rugby Cranes internationals.
4 Hannington Mukalazi
Mukalazi, a fullback, has been Mongers’ safety net for so long that the Entebbe side do not remember how it feels to worry about a high ball or a line break.
But the story of Mukalazi’s arrival at the original House of Pain in Entebbe cannot be told without mentioning Twijukye Benue who is said to have brought him.
5 Eric Toolit
Toolit, the former Buffaloes captain, has been around for so long that his teammates in the early 2010s are now his coaches at Kyadondo.
The soft-spoken lock forward goes about his business quietly without catching the attention of many but if you looked closely enough, you’ll be sure to see him.
When looking at the women, the Class of 2019 is the most prominent because it coincided with the rebirth of competitive women’s rugby.
The likes of Yvonne Najjuma, Peace Lekuru, Christine Akello and Lydia Namabiro are among a humongous eleven debutants on the Lady Rugby Cranes squad for the Elgon Cup in Kisumu.
But there are resilient women who had been there before them as young girls and are still here playing as mature women.
1 Charlotte Mudoola
Mudoola is the most senior female rugby player in the country, with twenty-five test caps to her name (the second highest of all time).
The Black Pearls utility player, who switches between flanker, flyhalf and center seamlessly, is currently the second top points scorer in the women’s premier rugby league and remains one of the best kickers in the country.
2 Brenda Kayiyi
Panthers welcomed Kayiyi from a brief sabbatical after the COVID-19 pandemic and she showed almost immediately the talent which enabled her to sweep rugby awards in her heydays. Kayiyi not only plays but also provides a mother figure to the youthful Panthers squad most of whom only started playing rugby when she marked her return.
The two, Mudoola and Kayiyi, are the last players standing from the squad which represented Uganda at the 2009 women’s Rugby World Cup Sevens.
3 Mary Kyoita
Kyoita missed the Rugby World Cup 7s trip in 2008 but she was part of the squad which won Uganda’s ticket to the tournament the previous year. With the Thunderbirds, she provides cover for the younger halfbacks; putting in a shift of just over forty minutes when she starts.
4 Samiya Ayikoru
Ayikoru is one of the most flamboyant rugby players the country has ever seen. She has evolved from a little halfback to a pacy fullback with silky skills and footwork. When available to play, Samiya Ayikoru remains one of the players who do not expect to be subbed. That’s how good she is!
5 Winnie Atyang, Koyokoyo Buteme and Asha Nakityo
Atyang, Buteme and Nakityo are not fully active rugby players— Atyang serves as team manager, Buteme as head coach and Nakityo as match official— but when duty has called at their respective rugby clubs, they have laced up their boots and stepped up to the challenge.
