# Uganda national netball team

The Uganda national netball team, also known as the She-Cranes, represent the Uganda Netball Federation in international netball tournaments, such as the Netball World Cup, the Commonwealth Games, the Fast5 Netball World Series and the Netball Nations Cup. Uganda have won Africa Netball Cup, All-Africa Games and Netball Singapore Nations Cup tournaments. Their best results in major tournaments are fifth place finishes at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the 2023 Netball World Cup. As of 25 July 2024, Uganda are sixth in the World Netball Rankings.

## Tournament history
### Major tournaments
#### Netball World Cup

Uganda made their Netball World Cup debut in 1979. With a team coached by Ben Mary Muwanga and captained by Suzan Ddumba Namatovu, they finished 13th.
Uganda qualified for 2015 Netball World Cup after winning the 2014 African Netball Championships. In their opening game of the tournament they defeated Zambia 74–38 with Peace Proscovia scoring 56 goal. Uganda would eventually finish in eighth place after losing a play off to Wales.
Uganda qualified for the 2019 Netball World Cup after winning the 2018 African Netball Championships. Uganda would finish in seventh place after defeating Zimbabwe 58–47 in a play off.
At the 2023 Netball World Cup, with a team featuring Mary Cholhok Nuba and captained by Irene Eyaru, Uganda finished the tournament in 5th place. In a play off they defeated the hosts South Africa 49–47.
| Tournaments | Place |
| 1979 World Netball Championships | 13th |
| 2015 Netball World Cup | 8th |
| 2019 Netball World Cup | 7th |
| 2023 Netball World Cup | 5th |

#### Commonwealth Games

Uganda made their Commonwealth Games debut in 2018. They finished the tournament in sixth place, after losing a play off to South Africa 53–42. At the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Uganda finished fifth after defeating South Africa 54–48 in a play off.
| Tournaments | Place |
| 2018 Commonwealth Games | 6th |
| 2022 Commonwealth Games | 5th |

#### Netball Nations Cup

| Tournaments | Place |
| 2024 Netball Nations Cup | 4th |
| 2025 Netball Nations Cup | 3rd |

#### Fast5 Netball World Series

| Tournaments | Place |
| 2022 Fast5 Netball World Series | 5th |
| 2024 Fast5 Netball World Series | 3rd |

### African tournaments

Uganda also competes in competitions against other African national teams. These include the Africa Netball Cup, the Diamond Challenge, tournaments at the All-Africa Games and Netball World Cup qualifiers.

#### All-Africa Games

| Tournaments | Place |
| 2011 All-Africa Games | 1st |

#### Africa Netball Cup

| Tournaments | Place |
| 2013 African Netball Championship | 3rd |
| 2014 African Netball Championships | 1st |
| 2017 African Netball Championships | 1st |
| 2018 African Netball Championships | 1st |
| 2019 Africa Netball Cup | 3rd |

#### Diamond Challenge

Since 2012, Netball South Africa has hosted the Diamond Challenge. The trophy is contested with mainly visiting African national teams, including Uganda.
| Tournaments | Place |
| 2015 Diamond Challenge | 3rd |
| 2016 Diamond Challenge | 3rd |
| 2021 SPAR Challenge Series | 2nd |

#### Netball World Cup qualifiers

| Tournaments | Place |
| 2011 World Netball Championships Qualifier | n/a |

### Invitational tournaments and series

Uganda have competed in several invitational tournaments, including when, with a team captained by Peace Proscovia and coached by Fred Mugerwa, they won the 2013 Netball Singapore Nations Cup. Before this tournament, they had not played outside of Africa since 1979. They were unranked and only secured government funding at the last minute after making a plea for public help via the New Vision newspaper. The President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, also donated to the Uganda Netball Federation to help with the cost. Uganda missed their flights and missed their opening match against the United States. They arrived on day two of the competition, after a ten hour flight, just six hours before their first match. Despite everything, they beat the Republic of Ireland 54–41. They then drew with Papua New Guinea 52–52 to stay in contention. They subsequently defeated Singapore and Sri Lanka to qualify for the final. In the final they defeated Singapore 52–29, with Peace Proscovia scoring 30 goals.
| Tournaments | Place |
| 2013 Netball Singapore Nations Cup | 1st |
| 2022 England Uganda netball series | 2nd |

## Notable players
### Current squad

The current squad was selected for the 2024 Netball Nations Cup.

### Captains

| Years | Captains |
| 1979 | Suzan Ddumba Namatovu |
| 2011 | Amono Florence |
| 2013–2023 | Peace Proscovia |
| 2016 | Irene Eyaru |
| 2021 | Stella Oyella |
| 2022 | Joan Nampungu |
| 2023– | Irene Eyaru |

## Coaches
### Head coaches

| Coach | Years |
| Ben Mary Muwanga | 1975–1985 |
| Fred Mugerwa | 2011–2015 |
| Rashid Mubiru | 2015–2017 |
| Vincent Kiwanuka | 2017–2019 |
| Rashid Mubiru | 2019–2021 |
| Imelda Nyongesa | 2018 |
| Fred Mugerwa | 2021– |

### Assistant coaches

| Coach | Years |
| Peace Proscovia | 2024 |

## Honours

* Africa Netball Cup
** Winners: 2014, 2017, 2018
** Runners Up: 2021
* All-Africa Games
** Winners: 2011
* Netball Singapore Nations Cup
** Winners: 2013