By Our Reporter
MTN Uganda rewarded a group of outstanding women in sports, including a community Netball team, following a campaign that was launched last month, in celebration of the women who have broken societal norms by shining in the male-dominated world of sports.
In a ceremony held yesterday at the Serena Hotel in Kampala, a total of 20 outstanding women and members of the Suncity United community Netball team were awarded cash prizes and a sponsorship package respectively, in appreciation of their efforts toward the country’s sports scene.
Suncity United is a community-based netball team leveraging Netball to empower underprivileged girls hailing from slum areas in and around Kampala. The team received a community service award accompanied by a Ugx.30,000,000 shillings sponsorship package in recognition of its efforts. The money will go towards facilitating the team’s travel to the United States where the team has been invited to compete in the U.S Open Junior Netball
Championships in Atlanta, Georgia, later this month.
The top 5 winners namely; Jane Asinde, Janet Mbabazi, Frankline Najjumba, Peruth Chemutai, and Halima Nakaayi were each rewarded with Ugx.3,000,000 shillings. The rest of the 15 ladies who made it to the top 20 received Ugx.500,000 shillings each.
Speaking at the rewarding ceremony, Somdev Sen, the MTN Uganda Chief Marketing officer said that the effort to pay respect to the women in sports is hinged on MTN’s deliberate efforts to erase the gap between genders in the world of sport by recognizing and celebrating the women who have upheld the country’s flag as far as sports is concerned.
“Like in many other professions, women in sports still do not receive the same recognition and appreciation as their male counterparts. As MTN we deliberately set out to use the women’s month to shine a light on the greatness of the women in sports. We believe that if we work together in recognizing and celebrating the women who have in no small way upheld our country’s flag far and wide, we shall erase the gap between genders in the sports profession,” Somdev said.
Rehema Nanyonga, the Manager of the Suncity United Netball team thanked MTN for the recognition award as well as the sponsorship package to facilitate the team’s travel for the U.S Open Junior championships in Atlanta, Georgia.
“As the Suncity United community, we are humbled to be recognized and supported in our endeavors by the biggest company in the country. This gesture from MTN has motivated us to continue pursuing our goals to continue inspiring more girls in our community through sports,” Nanyonga said.
Penina Kabenge, the Vice President of the International University Sports Federation thanked MTN for always reaching out to the sports fraternity as well as looking out for and celebrating the women in sports.
Following the International Women’s Day celebrations last month, MTN ran a digital campaign across its online platforms asking the public to nominate outstanding women from different sports disciplines including Athletics, Basketball, Football, Gymnastics, Hockey, Javelin, Kabaddi, Netball, Rugby, Shooting, Volleyball and Woodball among others, through the MTN Sports website.
Between 15th March 2022 to 4th April 2022, 100 nominations were received, backed by insightful profiles of the nominated women. Subsequently, the public cast their votes for their favorite sportswomen who were rewarded by MTN Uganda.