By Brian Bariyo Tumuramye
The Uganda Rugby Union Monday announced the selection of new head coaches for the women’s national rugby teams.
Both coaches bring significant level 2 experience, a passionate commitment towards the development of the sport and great track records of success in the field of rugby.
Leonard Lubambula is the new head coach for the Women’s XVs team taking on the reins from Edgar Lemeriga who was coach for the last three years. Charles Onen deputizes Leonard as Assistant Coach and Kigongo Sebalamu joins the management team as Strength and Conditioning coach for the two teams.
In the 7s code, Charles Onen is the new head coach after replacing Helen Buteme who left at the end of her contract.
The URU Vice President Technical,Oscar Olaro, thanked the former coaches for their professional and committed support towards women’s rugby and welcomed the two incoming coaches .
“On behalf of Uganda Rugby I would like to thank Edgar Lemerigar and Helen Buteme and their management teams for their professional and committed support to Women’s rugby and rugby in general. I also welcome Leonard and Charles who I know will not only be up to the task but will propel us back to being amongst the top nations in women’s rugby in Africa and the world at . My challenge to them is to nurture more women leaders from among the team so we can see more female coaches and management team members in future.” he said
About Coach Leonard Lubambula
The world rugby certified level 2 coach served as Head Coach -Remera buffaloes Kigali U19s 2011-2012, Coach of the Uganda Christian University Rugby team -2012-2015, Walukuba Rugby 2015-Date, Assistant Coach NT Women’s XVs -2017-2019, Assistant Coach NT U20s boys -2019, And now Head Coach Women’s NT 2020, Level 2 World Rugby certified coach and
Investec international Rugby academy trained coach -South Africa.He has also been a consultant Rugby coach for Ndejje University, Busitema University and Kiira College Butiki.
“I look forward to my tenure as a head coach. I have been around the NT circles before.
Fulfilling the team’s set goals and vision is my big task but am pretty sure we (the team management )will deliver a great job. Providing a High Performance environment with minimal
resources within the team structures is my first assignment. Lastly I thank the union for trust and opportunity.” Coach Leonard
About Coach Charles Onen
The World Rugby certified Level 2 coach and referee has registered great achievement as a rugby coach of the Thunderbirds team,who are the Uganda Cup defending champions. He registered a number of wins for Hana International who won the Budo 7s circuit and Ball games in 2019. He also led Kyadondo ladies team to victory in the central league for women and 15s league in 2017 and 2018. During his time as a coach of Jinja SS, they won silver in the East Africa games of 2017. It is also important to note that he was the coach of the U13 uganda team that represented Uganda and won the tour aid competition in England 2015 under captain Tukei Aaron.
“My plan for the women’s national team is to develop skilled players who are passionate about the game. My areas of focus will be in line with emphasizing the core values of rugby, develop and improve on the players skills, develop game approach and awareness, develop physical and mental strength of the players, consistent high performance and law of the game awareness.” Coach Onen Charles
