She is short and small-bodied. If she was not donning the black team apparel – jersey and shorts – and sports shoes, she could have been any other woman you would bypass on the street. But Oliver Mbekeka has a voice that carries across a football pitch, stopping a left-back defender and goalkeeper in mid run. She calls a halt to the game. It is a training session and the players are taller than she is.

Speaking in Luganda, she asks the left-back why it was so easy for the goalkeeper to stop his goal. After a little mumbling from him, she instructs him on where he should stand if he wants a clear score. Indeed, when she calls for the game to resume, the left-back scores a goal. Mbekeka is among the few female coaches in the country. Currently serving as assistant coach to Steven Bogere at Lugazi Football Club (FC), she made history two weeks ago when she became the first woman to head a men’s team in Uganda’s top league. Her appointment followed the sacking of former head coach, Sadiq Ssempigi. Mbekeka stepped in on an interim basis.

“I felt sad because he was my friend. Coach Ssempigi is the one who introduced me to the Uganda Premier League (UPL). He believed in me. I cried the whole night. When I talked to him, he told me it was my time to shine,” Mbekeka says.Encouraged, she also sought the advice of other sportswomen and members of the community. She says none of the players despised her.

“If you want to be a good coach, you have to be straightforward and trustworthy. I have always told the players the truth. If there is a problem with the way one plays, I tell him and then, we talk about solving it one-on-one. I do not shame them. I am like a mother to them,” she advises.

Mbekeka adds that besides the players, the team manager and chief executive officer also offered her their support in her new role. At the time she was placed at the helm of the team, there were only four days left until the match against Express Football Club (FC).The coach says she spent sleepless nights analysing previous games played by Express FC in order to come up with the approach her team would take.

“I was not under pressure because I believed in myself. However, I had to work on our mentality. I would stay up late focusing on the behaviour of Express FC players when attacking and defending, then I would analyse the philosophy of the coach. Then, I would sleep at 4am after praying to God,” she reminisces.

Journalists and the football community eagerly awaited Mbekeka’s debut. And indeed, she lived up to their expectations steering newcomers Lugazi FC to their maiden UPL victory after beating Express FC 1-0 in Nakivubo Stadium.

“I cannot say that I will be winning all the time but I have to be brave and believe in myself and keep going. Yes, we got a win against Express FC, which is a big team, but we will not relax. As a coach, I have had to learn how to manage the pressure,” she says.

Returning to assistant coach

Unfortunately, Mbekeka’s journey as head coach lasted eight days. Lugazi FC appointed Bogere head coach. Despite the brief tenure, Mbekeka feels she has gained valuable experience in coaching at a high level.

“Bogere is a Christian who prays before a game. It will be my first time working with him so I am looking forward to a good experience. I am also prepared to take on bigger roles. If I get an opportunity as head coach, I will take it. But I still have a one-year contract with Lugazi FC,” she says.

Mbekeka says she prefers coaching male to female players, blaming the latter for mood swings and starting to play the game at a late stage in life.

“For some of the boys, though, the game is inborn. They start playing when they are very young and this makes it easier to coach them because all you have to do is remind them of a few steps they may have forgotten,” she says.

Mbekeka’s coaching career started in 2014 with Wakiso Hills Women Football Club. She has also managed two national teams – the Crested Cranes in 2014 and the Queen Cranes in 2016. She also guided Lady Doves Football Club to their FUFA Women Super League title in 2021.

“These days, young girls are not very talented, probably because of the coaches in the academies. When training them, you have to go so much into the technical side of things. They are moody and always pick on small things to be angry about. But I tell them off, calling on them to be professional and leave their issues off the pitch,” she explains.

Early beginnings

Mbekeka began playing football when she was a child living in Makerere University, where her father worked as a storekeeper. She says her father and older brothers supported her choice of hobby because they also played the game.

“It was only my uncle who was against it. He used to chase me off the field with a stick, yelling at me that I am a girl and I should not play or sit with boys. My father tried to make him understand that I had the talent,” she recalls.

Older women in the community also had a lot to say about the only girl who was to be found playing with 30 boys on the football pitch.

“They would say I dressed and behaved like a boy because I wore trousers. They gossiped about me and some approached me and advised me to find girls who could be my friends. I felt good whenever I was among the boys. Even today, I find it easier being a friend to a man than to a woman, although I have some female pals,” she adds.

In 1994, when she was 16, Mbekeka joined the first women’s club, Kampala Women Football Club which had been formed by Maama Baker Kazibwe, a football diehard. Some of her peers in the club included Rebecca Nakate, Harriet Kayonjo, and Chance Nalubega.

“Maama Baker welcomed me with open arms. We used to have away matches where I would score six goals in one game. She had a dream that I would play in the World Cup. The coach, Paul Ssali, would let me lead the technical sessions, encouraging me to do something unique on the pitch.” she recalls.

The players were not paid a professional fee, only receiving Shs500 as transport fare per match. However, the budding footballer’s expenses were catered for by her father.Over the years, Mbekeka enjoyed an illustrious career, playing for City Stars FC and She Corporate FC in Uganda, Source de Kivu and OCL City in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and APR FC in Rwanda.

“When I took my first flight for international football, my father boasted to my uncle that I was the first person to board a plane in our clan. Unfortunately, my uncle passed away and did not see what I have achieved in football,” she says.

Mbekeka also earned 12 caps for the Crested Cranes and captained the team during the 2000 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations hosted by South Africa.

The challenges

Professionally, the coach says she has not yet met insurmountable challenges.

“I found good and loving people at Lugazi FC. Of course, there are disappointments when we lose a game, especially to a weak team. I always ask myself why we lose to, or draw with, such teams. But, we are human and we make mistakes. We learn from the mistakes, though, and maybe that is why we won against Express FC,” she says.

Mbekeka is a single mother of three children, who are 27, 12 and one and a half years old. Today, she only trains once a day so she has enough time to spend with her children.

“My children know my job and they are used to me being away for hours. At least, today, we can have video calls every day. The firstborn came into the world when I was always traveling for international games. I enrolled her into a boarding school, leaving her in charge of my mother,” she says.

She laments that with time, especially when she moved to the DRC IN 2010, the child bonded with her grandmother to the extent that even today, the relationship between mother and daughter is not so strong.

It took us a long time to get used to each other. Now, though, because I have better schedules, I make sure I show my daughter that I love her. She is too old for me to carry her but I think we are catching up with life now. We freely discuss the challenges I face because she is now a woman,” she adds. Her mistakes showed her that she needed to balance the various strands of her life.

“By the time I started coaching, I had grown up mentally and psychologically, and I knew how to balance my work, family life, and the small business I set up. If you are a good organiser, you can handle any challenge,” Mbekeka advises.

Mbekeka’s first marriage also suffered a blow due to her desire to play professional football. She says her husband was a jealous man who failed to understand her.“His problem was Coach (Paul) Ssali, who I had bonded with as my coach. One day, my husband came to the pitch at Nakivubo Settlement (Primary School) and he found me pushing the coach’s head playfully. He asked if I was in love with the coach,” she explains.

That is when the misunderstandings between the couple began. Every time her husband was annoyed, he accused her of being in love with her coach. Eventually they separated.

Mbekeka now has a new man in her life, who she says, understands her role as a footballer and a coach.“Sometimes, a player will stand close to you for a one-on-one conversation. Because of the intimacy of the game, we talk, joke and laugh because it is easier for a boy to bond with a woman than a woman bonding with a fellow woman. If someone sees this, they will think we are lovers yet it is not true.

Now 45, Mbekeka has an 18-months-old baby, who she hopes will get all the love and time she failed to give her older children.

“It is good to have a big family. When I come back from work, it is wonderful to hear one crying for a mango, while the other one wants sweets. I always take them out for treats and give them whatever they want to eat,” she says.

Future plans

From her efforts in the Beautiful Game, Mbekeka has bought land and built a family home. Her children have also attended good schools and she has made friends.“My dream is to take a team to the World Cup. I dream big and of course to achieve my dreams, I have to work hard and be aggressive,” she says.

Other potential female coaches may have the same dream, and while there has been an increase in opportunities for them in both men’s and women’s football, there is still a gender gap. Out of the 12 clubs in the Federation of Uganda Football Association (FUFA) Women Super League, only one club, Amus College Women Football Club, is led by a female coach, Faridah Bulega. The other 11 teams have men at their helm.

Mbekeka’s coaching career started in 2014 with Wakiso Hills Women Football Club. She has also managed two national teams – the Crested Cranes in 2014 and the Queen Cranes in 2016. She also guided Lady Doves Football Club to their FUFA Women Super League title in 2021.