Presidential skilling girls' team seeks sponsorship

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A girls' football team that is topping the table in the Kampala Region Football Association (KRFA) third division women's league 2024/25 is appealing to corporate companies and well-wishers to boost its sporting ambitions.

The Presidential Initiative on Skilling the Girl/Boy Child (PISGBC) Queens Football Club (FC) is a 30-member female squad which was started in June 2023 by Joyce Athieno, an administrator of the Nakulabye Skilling Centre in Kampala city. The centre is one of the nine vocational centres under State House.

The nine centres set up by President Yoweri Museveni in 2017, from which the team derives its name, target reducing crime and unemployment in the ghetto (slum) areas of Kampala.

It is from this cohort of over 5,000 less privileged young women aged 17-29 that Athieno conceived the idea to create an all-girls team to promote positive social behaviour after graduating from the six-month-long skilling programme.

PISGBC Queens FC is topping the table in the Kampala Region Football Association (KRFA) third division women's league 2024/25. The club is appealing to corporate companies and well wishers to boost its sporting ambitions. (Courtesy photo)

In an exclusive interview with New Vision Online on February 22, 2025, at the club's home ground behind the gates of Luzira Prisons, Athieno noted that the club's formation aimed to promote skills development of the slum girls, as an effective tool for preventing violence, drug usage, health-related problems including early pregnancy.

"We use the club to promote and defend the image of the Presidential Initiative on Skilling (PIS). It also helps the girls to have a sense of belonging," she noted.

Learning to explore and innovate

Athieno believes that PISGBC Queens FC is enabling the girls to get tools to explore, learn innovate and develop into responsible citizens.

Despite the odds against them, the collection of underprivileged amateur football queens completed last season in the fourth position in a league of 14 teams.

This season, however, they have stepped up their efforts under coach Alfred Orlando and have not conceded in any match, both home and away, and by Saturday, had kept nine clean sheets, which their 19-year-old goalkeeper Elizabeth Namutebi Babirye is proud of.

The teenage goalkeeper, who is also pursuing a six-month technical course in construction at the Luzira skilling centre, credits her teammates, including the management for this success, she called on corporate bodies to intervene and give them a competitive edge since they lack so many resources.

"We only have one ball; no bibs and we play as volunteers. This affects our morale since the teams we play against are well-funded by schools and the communities they belong to," Babirye lamented.

During their last encounter on Saturday afternoon against a Kawempe-based younger side, Dream Girls FC, PISGBC Queens held on to a goalless draw to deny their more agile opponents a win despite all the setbacks.

Clad in yellow home kit jerseys and black shorts inspired by Uganda cranes, the girls aged between 17 to 25 years played an impressive style of football, their 29-year-old captain and oldest squad member, Hajarah Agaba, commended her teammates but also echoed the urgent need for financial support to keep the club afloat.

Agaba, a former She-Maroon striker who played from 2019 until recently, joined PISGBC Queens FC where she has been a key contributor to the team's total of 14 goals this season.

She is a certified welder who recently was recruited to become a Luzira Prisons warder. The team captain is a former beneficiary of the Presidential Skilling Initiative (PSI).

"Welding has enabled me to support my family members, I also teach welding at the prisoners as an instructor for the inmates," she said. This is her daily routine from 8:00 am until 2:00 pm on weekdays.

Lack of transport

According to Agaba, some players fail to show up for matches and training sessions due to lack of transport to fund their travel, injuries are very costly yet the club has only basic medicare and relies on a simple first aid kit.

"If we can get sponsorship, the team is committed, this will help us a lot," Agaba explained. "We lack boots and food at times, we only have one ball and no cons, no bibs and we need shin guards to protect us from injuries."

Coach Alfred Orlando expressed optimism about the future of his PISGBC Queens squad. 

"They are fully committed but the team lacks financial support to achieve their dream, we have been pursuing sponsorship, but all in vain," Orlando told New Vision Online in a post-match interview.

Orlando noted that four of his squad members are single mothers, while the majority are technical skilling students under PIS six-month vocational training.

"Every management that seeks football success requires financial resources," Orlando said.

He acknowledged that PISGBC Queens FC has so far exported one player to She Maroons FC, which is a top-flight team in the women's first division.

"She is a forward and all wins have come from her," he said.

Athieno, who is the club's founder and president has been financing the club since its inception from her monthly salary as a State House employee, but she too feels constrained as her efforts can not sufficiently foot all the bills and wages.

"On average, we need at least shillings two million weekly to cater for training, treat injured players, transportation and feeding. We also lack medical kits and usually borrow from the Prisons teams," Athieno revealed.

"Lack of sponsorship has dragged us down, we pay shillings 150,000 for the pitch per match, which we share with both the Maroons and She Maroons football teams," she lamented.

Before Athieno was relocated to the Nakulabye Skilling Centre under PSI, she was previously in charge of the Luzira Skilling Centre. She notes that her team has enabled the rival teams and their communities where they travel to be sensitized about PSI.

Top flight dream

Her ambition and that of her team is to join the Elite League (the second division), which is closely within their reach.

The ultimate goal, however, is to play in the most lucrative top-flight tournament, which is the Super League.

Athieno believes that the women's teams are cheaper to manage compared to their male counterparts.

PISGBC Queens FC is open to sponsorships from any corporate partner or individual.

Club chief executive officer Isaac Kisujju, who is an ex-Maroons FC player, believes that if the PISGBC Queens can secure corporate sponsors to enable them to fund their sh2m weekly club expenses, they can easily progress to the next division and beyond.

"The global trend shows that Women's football is gaining popularity, and Uganda has many talented female players. Since football has a large following, we believe this is a good strategy for advertisers who want to partner with us to promote their brands," he said.

Kisujju said just like the South American clubs, they welcome multiple sponsors to partner with the team for mutual benefit.

He believes up to four sponsors or more can have their logos displayed on various parts of their jersey front, back and on each sleeve just like Arsenal FC did for 'Visit Rwanda'.