{"id":18784,"date":"2021-10-03T15:00:21","date_gmt":"2021-10-03T15:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?p=18784"},"modified":"2021-10-03T14:35:33","modified_gmt":"2021-10-03T14:35:33","slug":"shilla-omuriwe-determined-to-defy-the-odds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/shilla-omuriwe-determined-to-defy-the-odds","title":{"rendered":"Shilla Omuriwe: Determined to defy the odds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Uganda<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>Her journey in volleyball goes beyond just coaching as she looks to inspire more women into the coaching spaces and have people focus on someone\u2019s output rather than the gender. A former player of the game herself, Omuriwe is ready for even bigger opportunities in the field and has her sights on coaching at the top level beyond just Uganda and Africa.<\/p>\n

That Uganda doesn\u2019t see the value of sport and invest more in it continues to baffle her and her dream is to set up a sports centre to nurture and export Ugandan talent. This, according to her, is what the various national teams need to compete with the best in the world. Enjoy the interview excerpts below.<\/p>\n

First of all congratulations on finishing fifth in Africa, did you see that coming?<\/p>\n

Did I see this coming? The answer is yes. Not fifth actually, I had thought we would get into the finals and keep punching with the big boys up there but that didn\u2019t happen and once we were locked out of the semi-finals this is what I expected the boys to achieve. We are so thankful to the boys for this display and I can\u2019t thank God enough for the wisdom both for the boys and us as a technical team.<\/p>\n

How has the experience been like for you, individually?<\/p>\n

Individually this has been an amazing experience. It has called for a lot of mental strength.<\/p>\n

First of all being away from family for this long, it\u2019s not been easy. I would do calls with family and my little boy would be asking when I\u2019m coming back home. It is fulfilling to leave at the end of the championship in such a position.<\/p>\n

I have been looking at the final rankings and when I just see Tunisia who are 11-time champions, Cameroon, Egypt, Morocco and then Uganda, I mean what can I say? It is so humbling and makes me happy and elated. The experience to play against these big teams that have been at this stage for such a long time is good for myself and the team.<\/p>\n

This was Uganda\u2019s first appearance at the CAVB Volleyball African Nations Championship, how would you sum up the performance?<\/b><\/p>\n

I think our position just speaks for itself. These boys put in everything we asked. I pushed and they gave their best so for first timers top five in Africa is an amazing performance. I know and I believe from the bottom of my heart that we can do better. When you look at the people we were playing against and the facilitation they are given, the investment that is put in them, for us to fight and come out as number five is huge. It shows how much the boys have put in and I\u2019m thankful to the people who believed in us and put in their individual monies to see us get to this level and show what talent we have as a country. Overall, the performance was very good.<\/p>\n

You are the first woman to coach a men\u2019s team at this level in Africa, how does that feel like?<\/p>\n

It is an amazing thing. The first day I walked into the arena and I\u2019m looking around and apart from maybe a lady sitting on the score table you are the one standing there in the middle, that\u2019s when it sank in for me.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s I figured where I was at at that point in time. After that I had to focus on my task. It\u2019s an amazing opportunity and for me sometimes I just forget about the gender thing. When I\u2019m there I\u2019m thinking about what I need to do to help the team, I try to focus on that until the question is thrown at me and then I remember that.<\/p>\n

But yes, it\u2019s an honour to be the first woman to coach a men\u2019s team at this level and I pray that it inspires someone out there to know that it\u2019s not about your gender but rather following your dream, being passionate about what you love, investing in yourself to be the best that you can be and you should be able to compete at any level. For me I see myself coaching at any level not just Africa, if I\u2019m given an opportunity, I will just run with it. If I got an opportunity outside Africa, I wouldn\u2019t say no, I would jump on it because I like the challenge.<\/p>\n

I push myself to see how to get the players to be the best that they could be and help them deliver. It is a humbling feeling especially when it is referenced because like I said sometimes, I really forget about it. I have seen some people tweet about it and how they have been inspired and I\u2019m truly humbled, I look forward to such opportunities where these barriers are broken and people are seen for what they can do and deliver.<\/p>\n

In the two games Uganda lost, the team struggled to serve and receive the ball, what do you attribute that to?<\/p>\n

As you get higher you play against players who are more consistent mentally in how they serve the ball so you have to be on top of your game. People are serving the ball so hard and if you give them a chance, they will keep going at you.<\/p>\n

About the serve, I think we put ourselves on pressure as we tried to go at the opponent just like they were coming at us with theirs. Unfortunately for us, we were not consistent. We were making errors which brought us down, every error you make has you doubting whether you are going to execute on the next one and that doesn\u2019t help. In both games we lost the boys knew we had to serve well to stand a chance and that added pressure and mentally it didn\u2019t help us to focus, relax and deliver.<\/p>\n

But also, these components of the game are not ones you just wake up and become consistent at, we didn\u2019t compete for two years apart from maybe Daudi (Okello) the rest have been out of action for two years. It takes training, you have to keep serving and receiving the ball over and over again. We had these boys for just a month and that included trying to make sure they are physically fit and ready to compete. By the time you get into the technical side of it it\u2019s already competition time.<\/p>\n

That didn\u2019t help the team to get to a certain level of consistency and we were playing against people that had been actively in action while back home we were in lockdown. That break makes you lose a certain touch and level of consistency. My prayer is that our game gets to a level where people are serving strong consistently so that they are able to receive well consistently.<\/p>\n

By finishing fifth, Uganda are the top ranked team in the region, should we read much into that?<\/p>\n

For starters, I would love us to enjoy it. I would love for us to enjoy the moment. Like I said at the start, every time I glance at the final standings I just smile, it\u2019s an achievement we should be proud of given the circumstances and the time we had to prepare. These boys deserve it. That\u2019s what God enabled us to achieve and I want the place to enjoy it, I told them already that they are champions. I\u2019m glad we faced some top teams, we played Morocco in a friendly and Egypt in the quarters and I\u2019m glad these boys go to play against this kind of opposition.<\/p>\n

It was not even about the other team being exceptional but our errors cost us and I\u2019m glad they got to see that. My prayer is that on the next opportunity they come out with all confidence. I also believe that with the current management of the game in player development and coaches\u2019 development, our doors are just opening. If the plans are followed and we are able to have our players exported and exposed then everyone will have to be watching out for us and that\u2019s a fact.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, it will be short-lived if we don\u2019t expose our players and consistently play at this level. You learn from your mistakes and if we were not here, we would not have seen what we can do better. Now we have set the bar and next time we must do better; we must prepare better and ensure continuity.<\/p>\n

The Volleyball Cranes have some young talent at the moment, how far can the team go in the near future?<\/p>\n

We have an amazing group of young players and we just have to expose them and give them the opportunity to play. Mind you some of them were not here because of different reasons so we could have had an even stronger team. Unfortunately, we were out for two years and it didn\u2019t help us but I\u2019m just praying that the federation follows through on the plans to focus on talent development from the grassroots so that the young talent is getting the right skills. That makes it easier for the national team and what the future can be.<\/p>\n

What pushed you into coaching, and coaching men at that?<\/p>\n

As a player I never saw myself as anything else apart from that but when I was in college in the US and my years of playing ended, I still had a year of school left and my Volleyball Coach offered me to be a Graduate Assistant Coach and that\u2019s where my coaching journey started. It was fun trying to help someone get better. It was fun watching and seeing how you can help the team and being able to plan training sessions. When I came back to Uganda, I was still playing for KAVC but whenever our men\u2019s team was on the floor, I would watch and give them feedback on some things they could work on.<\/p>\n

My experience from the US came in handy and the boys would be jokingly asking me to come coach them. In 2014 they asked again and I was hesitant because of the environment mainly. If a player says I have to go and work you have no control because he has to put food on his table but eventually, I decided to jump into it and I had the best season, I had a blast with those boys. It was not a walk in the park like they had thought because I was really in their faces. I take things seriously; I take my assignments and responsibilities seriously. I\u2019m up late in the night planning for games and I expect the same energy on the other end. I set my goals and gave them my rules if they expected me to coach them and they accepted.<\/p>\n

I guess they didn\u2019t know how serious I was going to be on the follow through but we had a beautiful season and came out champs and we were able to represent Uganda at the Africa Clubs Championship and even there I was the only female coach. I had a good run with the team but in 2018 I had to leave and join Air Force because I felt I had done what I could for KAVC.<\/p>\n

Race Specie. Omuriwe has not been shy to mix and mingle with the men; imparting with volleyball knowledge and life skills in the process. PHOTO\/ISMAIL KEZAALA<\/p>\n

For me it\u2019s a calling and I feel like I\u2019m given a role to achieve something and once I did with KAVC it was time to move. My next stop was Air Force and I helped the boys to get promoted from Serie B as champions and now we are waiting to see what we can achieve in Serie A. Now being able to help the national team achieve such a feat is great as well. I coach girls too, though. It\u2019s not all about the boys. I have coached U-13 girls at International School of Uganda (ISU). In the US i used to coach U-13 and U-16, it\u2019s interesting how at the lower levels I actually handle girls and then at the higher level I\u2019m coaching men.<\/p>\n

You have had success as a coach even before the national team, what do you attribute that to?<\/p>\n

Top on my list, I attribute my success to God. He\u2019s been faithful and I just base everything I do on Him. When I\u2019m planning it\u2019s like I\u2019m just talking to Him. When I\u2019m coaching, I just look to Him and ask for wisdom to be able to help and honestly, I\u2019m just grateful to God. He has walked this journey with me both from KAVC to Air Force and now with the national team. The other thing I attribute the success to is my family. They are such a rock. I\u2019m married with three children and now like for this championship I have been away from my family for two months.<\/p>\n

My husband is the best. He\u2019s someone who will even give me tips on what we can improve on the team. He is there for me and I\u2019m so grateful to God for Peter and for my kids. Just having that piece of mind in my other part of life is important for me to focus and give 100% on this side. My bigger family is always checking in on me to know how I\u2019m doing and those are things I don\u2019t take for granted.<\/p>\n

That support from family and friends is very important. The other thing with me which I share with players is discipline. Discipline is paramount even beyond sport. Communication is the other aspect because if you are not able to get to the players then they can\u2019t deliver. I always tell the players to talk to me or the assistant coach or whoever you feel comfortable with. Just talk because when there is any break in communication then you have a big problem. It creates dynamics that don\u2019t help the team. Then respect for each other. Discipline, communication and respect plus knowing what everyone brings to the table. That\u2019s it.<\/p>\n

How did you get into volleyball, first as a player?<\/p>\n

Well, first as a player. My volleyball journey started in Senior two in Wanyange Girls School when we were visited by Kampala Amateur Volleyball Club with the late Old Coach (Neko-Moduse Ojala) leading them. It is the first time I had ever see or heard of this sport. I was an athlete, I used to run, I played netball but this was the first time I was getting to know about volleyball. Our then Deputy Headmaster had played for the national team in the 70\u2019s.<\/p>\n

I was drawn to volleyball more even though I still played netball. I played for my school team and then during holidays I would go to Lugogo to train with KAVC. At university I didn\u2019t really play much and I only trained during holidays, I would work out with coach Sam Meya and he helped me improve greatly. I kept travelling with the KAVC team but I never was like on the team, I was just in the background but surprisingly coach Anthony Ndawula called me to the national team.<\/p>\n

I was also shocked by I had mastered the art of picking any ball as a libero. You could say my breakthrough was actually with the national team. When I went to the US I played for my University for two years. Most importantly, I\u2019m grateful to Old Coach for coming to my school and introducing me to the sport.<\/p>\n

What kind of person are you outside volleyball?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m able to answer that (laughs\u2026) you might have to ask people around me. But I believe myself to be an honest person, truthful and faithful. If I\u2019m upset, I will let you know and I move on, I give it to you as it is. I love people, I love to help. I do whatever I can to help the next person. One thing I know I\u2019m still working on to get better at is being patient. It\u2019s not easy so that\u2019s the area where I know I\u2019m still lacking. I keep praying to God to help me in that area. I love my family and i like to spend most of my time with them and I also just love having fun.<\/p>\n

What kind of advice would you give to a girl trying to make it in sport?<\/p>\n

First of all, figure out what you love and give it 100%. We don\u2019t have the luxury of giving 50% and you get away with it. Do not let any one tell you, you are any less, push yourself. The most important thing is to figure out what you are really passionate about and do anything within your means to achieve it. Jump on whatever opportunity whether it\u2019s training, whether it\u2019s someone coaching you, jump on it and make yourself better. Also, put yourself out there. Trust me if you have what it takes you will not have to defend anything, it will speak for itself. That\u2019s the advice I can give to any girl out there.<\/p>\n

What do you think of the level of volleyball back home, beyond the national team?<\/p>\n

Generally, we are still far off, we are still behind but like I said earlier it starts with the investment we put in it. If we invest in it we will be so far ahead because we have the talent. For me it\u2019s about investing, the talent is there so let\u2019s invest and use this. Let the players get the opportunities to be where they should be at the right time. If we could set up sports centres, at least four sports centres in the country and actually focus on this young talent, get the basic skills right when they are still young. Once you do that at that level things become easier at the top. I have faith that if we invest well, expose our players much earlier then we will be able to match anybody else. We need to have the right coaches at the grassroots level.<\/p>\n

As a country, what should Uganda do better to improve volleyball and sports in general?<\/p>\n

If we continue to impose taxes on basic sports equipment then I don\u2019t know how we shall develop sports in the country. Even donated balls are taxed and if we don\u2019t make adjustments quickly then we are not helping sports and we will continue to lag behind. We are playing against people who are using technology to break down an individual athlete and follow up on things like how much sleep one has had, we don\u2019t have that luxury but we are asking for the bare minimum like facilities. Volleyball is an indoor sport just like basketball and at the moment everyone has to fight for Lugogo, you can\u2019t even get it for training.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t have equipment and even if someone donated you would have to pay tax that is higher than the cost of the equipment. That\u2019s where we are at and it\u2019s something we need to look into immediately. We need facilities in different communities to help attract more talent into the various sports. We need to have people invest more time in sports, it shouldn\u2019t come after someone\u2019s 8-5pm job. We are playing against people who wake up to play volleyball, for us, we wake up and go to work then put in one hour of training but you have to compete against them.<\/p>\n

At the moment we have only one player whose job is to play volleyball (Daudi Okello) and you could see what he gives to the team. Imagine we had six of them on court, where would we be at? Let\u2019s take sports seriously, it\u2019s a job that can earn players and individuals a living but it\u2019s only going to happen if we invest in them when they are younger and able to get that exposure. Personally, I\u2019m looking for sponsors to support me, we already have a piece of land in Kalungu, Masaka that I would like to invest in as a development centre. God helped us procure the land and now hopefully we get sponsors to support us start and see how we can grow and export talent.<\/p>\n

Where do you see yourself in the future, in line with volleyball?<\/p>\n

My dream is to be able to run a successful sports centre that\u2019s growing talent. Passing on basic skills to the young generation with top class coaches and being able to expose these players internationally for them to be able to represent this country.<\/p>\n

The other dream is for me to coach at international level, just my journey here has been amazing and when I imagine myself coaching at international level\u2026I don\u2019t know. It will just be a meltdown for it to sink in. I have worked so hard and invested in myself as an individual, I made a decision to step away from Human Resource Administration training and focus on volleyball because it is my passion. I use my Human Resource to help players because I\u2019m able to counsel and guide them so I don\u2019t feel like I wasted my education. It just compliments my calling which is coaching. It would be a dream come true to make this a fulltime job and get paid for the investment so I\u2019m looking forward to having such an opportunity. I would love to coach in the US with my knowledge and background, I would love to coach in the European Leagues. I\u2019m thinking and dreaming big and I believe that God will open the door for me at some point in time.<\/p>\n

Factfile<\/b><\/p>\n

Full Names: Shilla Allison Omuriwe Buyungo<\/p>\n

Birth date: July 17th<\/p>\n

Positions Held<\/p>\n

Asst. Coach National Team \u2013 women (2018-2019)<\/p>\n

Head Coach, Airforce Volleyball \u2013 Men (2018 to date)<\/p>\n

Head Coach, KAVC- Men (2014 \u20132017)<\/p>\n

Coach, Kyambogo University Coach (2017-2018)<\/p>\n

Youth Coach, ISU \u2013 Girls (2018 \u2013 2019)<\/p>\n

Youth Coach, KISU \u2013 Girls \u2013 (2016 \u2013 2017)<\/p>\n

Grad Assistant Coach University of Bridgeport (2007 \u2013 2009)<\/p>\n

Coach, Connecticut Sports Center \u2013 Girls (2008 \u2013 2009)<\/p>\n

Marital Status: Married with three children<\/p>\n

Qualifications:<\/p>\n

University of Bridgeport, Bridgeport, CT: Masters in Business Administration (Management) & Masters in counseling- concentration in Human Resource Development.<\/p>\n

Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda: Bachelors in Social Sciences \u2013 concentration in Political Science & Social Administration.<\/p>\n

Other qualifications:<\/p>\n

FIVB Level 2 Coach,<\/p>\n

International Coaching Diploma, University of Leipzig<\/p>\n

USA Volleyball Level I Coach<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. Her journey in volleyball goes beyond just coaching as she looks to inspire more women into the coaching spaces and have people focus on someone\u2019s output rather than the gender. A former player of the game herself, Omuriwe is ready for even bigger opportunities in the field and has her sights on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":18783,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,17],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-18784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\nShilla Omuriwe: Determined to defy the odds - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Her journey in volleyball goes beyond just coaching as she looks to inspire more women into the coaching spaces and have ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/shilla-omuriwe-determined-to-defy-the-odds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shilla Omuriwe: Determined to defy the odds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Her journey in volleyball goes beyond just coaching as she looks to inspire more women into the coaching spaces and have ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/shilla-omuriwe-determined-to-defy-the-odds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-10-03T15:00:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/10\/img-6159bf9fadb82.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"19 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/shilla-omuriwe-determined-to-defy-the-odds#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/shilla-omuriwe-determined-to-defy-the-odds\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Shilla Omuriwe: Determined to defy the odds\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-03T15:00:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/shilla-omuriwe-determined-to-defy-the-odds\"},\"wordCount\":3864,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/shilla-omuriwe-determined-to-defy-the-odds#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/10\/img-6159bf9fadb82.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Uganda\",\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/shilla-omuriwe-determined-to-defy-the-odds#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/shilla-omuriwe-determined-to-defy-the-odds\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/shilla-omuriwe-determined-to-defy-the-odds\",\"name\":\"Shilla Omuriwe: Determined to defy the odds - 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