In Summary
Helen Koyokoyo Buteme is undoubtedly the face of women’s rugby in Uganda. She, and a few others laid the foundation of women’s rugby in the country and have never looked back. She is also the only Ugandan woman to play in the English Women’s Rugby Premiership. Her sisters, Irene Bunihizi Namapii and Susan Khainza also play rugby and hockey, respectively
Many regard rugby as a rough sport and with that misconception, they end up hating it. However, it is easy for Helen Koyokoyo Buteme to convince anyone to take up the sport she describes as ‘the sweetest and easiest’ in the world.
In fact, she has managed to convince hundreds into joining the sport. She speaks so passionately about rugby that you will be convinced to roll onto that pitch and tussle it out.
That is what exactly happened to me. After our interview, Buteme suggested that I join her and others to play for the Evergreen Veterans, a mixed team of oldies such as Brian Tabaruka, Yayiro Kasasa, Anthony Kinene, Victor Wadia and Christine Kizito, among others. I got convinced and played my first rugby game, against the Young Vikings, a team dominated by the Uganda Lady Cranes players.
On the pitch, Buteme was my coach; taking me through the basics of tackling and passing (you only pass backwards, which proved difficult at first because of my football background).
Whereas Buteme is so caring, Kinene is stern. During the halftime break, as Buteme was teaching me how to tackle, Kinene shouted in the background: “Hit him hard, that’s the only way he’s going to learn.” I almost abandoned the match after hearing that.
The match took place at the soggy Kyadondo Rugby Grounds and I got drenched in the mud, but it was worth it. So far, I have played two matches and the hunger to play more is insatiable. “Now, that is how we all started,” Buteme shares, after the game.
The switch
Growing up, Buteme was a versatile sportswoman. She played netball and athletics but concentrated on field hockey at university. She was playing for Weatherheads in the national league but later founded Kampala Ladies in 2000 with the likes of Olive Kagere, Anne Alan Sizomu and Rebecca Akwenyu. But along the way, they were disappointed with how hockey was being run and decided to quit.
“The game lacked direction. It was so disorganised and as players, we were at crossroads and disillusioned. During that time of pondering, one friend jokingly suggested that we join rugby,” Buteme recalls.
Just like that, Buteme and her group asked authorities at Kyadondo to grant them training space. They started playing touch rugby (this does not involve the tackling), with Grace Lubega offering them the basics.
The good thing was Buteme, Namapii and Khainza come from a sporting family. Their brothers, Erika Wanda and Nathan Wasolo started playing rugby as young boys in Kenya, and when they returned to Uganda, they played for Pirates and Kobs, respectively. Their father, Patrick Masette Kuuya was a footballer and swimmer in his heydays, while their mother, Tereza Ahanayaka (RIP), was a netballer.
It is surprising that even with that background, it was not easy for Buteme to pull-on the rugby jersey, and the opposition came from within.
“Much as I wanted to play rugby, my brother (Wasolo) opposed it. Like many people, he felt that women should not play rugby. So it became a tug of war but he couldn’t stop me,” Buteme says, with a toughened look. “However, Wasolo is now one of my biggest fans,” she laughs.
The turning point came in 2003 when the Uganda Rugby Cranes travelled to Kenya for the Elgon Cup. The Kenyan ladies played a full-contact curtain-raiser match. The Ugandan team was impressed and on return, Robert ‘Soggy’ Sseguya convinced Buteme and her pals to start playing real rugby.
They spread the message and many ladies joined in, hence the formation of Thunderbirds, the first women rugby team in Uganda. Namapii and a few others who had been working on their fitness also joined. But Namapii quit shortly after suffering a knock on the head. Work commitments, which took her to Nigeria for a year, also put her rugby on a temporally halt. In 2006, Buteme founded the Black Panthers, another women rugby team. Namapii was lured back and continues to play for the team.
Along the way, Buteme played for Lady Cranes for 11 years and captained it to big tournaments like the 2009 Women 7s World Cup and various Africa Women 7s tournaments.
Road to England
In 2013, Buteme joined the Thurrock Thunderbirds of the English Women’s Rugby Premiership. The team had three England internationals and rubbing shoulders with them was an ultimate dream for her.
“A friend of mine in the UK told them about my potential and I sent my video clips, which impressed them. They invited me for training and I didn’t disappoint.
“In the first match, I was the tiniest but the hard work that I put in my conditioning sessions helped me cope up with the big players. It was a tough match because they played me on the wing yet I prefer playing at the centre,” she says, with a smile.
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