By Michael Ainomugisha
On a cold evening in an empty dining hall during a semester break, I sat with the UCU Angels netball captain, Linda Muzigo. Our chat was centred around her sporting journey in netball. When she looks back at what she has done in the sport, Muzigo does not see a career defined by medals alone. She sees scholarships, classrooms, leadership positions, difficult decisions, young athletes who needed guidance, and a university community she has represented on and off the court.
Her story in the sport began long before she became the longest-serving captain of the UCU Angels.
Muzigo picked up netball in Primary Four at Kamuli Girls Boarding School in Kamuli District. By Primary Five, her ability had earned her a scholarship. She later received a Kyabazinga Scholarship (a scholarship programme under the Busoga Kingdom) to attend Nakanyonyi Girls School, but the school offered limited opportunities for sports, and she chose to return to Kamuli and attend Nawanyago College, which offered her an opportunity to feature in national competitions in Gulu, Lira and Soroti.
The search for a better sporting environment took her through several schools and difficult decisions. Her mother, who prioritised academics, was careful about where her daughter would study.
“I’m someone who normally sits and analyses things before I make any decision,” Muzigo says.
That approach eventually led her to Kibuli Secondary School, where she met Nelson Bogere, the coach who would later guide her career at Uganda Christian University.
At Kibuli, Muzigo found a school that valued her ability and gave her room to lead. Her experience there also helped shape the kind of captain she would later become.
“I left an impact there in the administration. If the netball team wanted something, I could move directly to the HM and talk about it,” she recalls.
The transition to UCU came after she had played for Busia Greater Lions during her school holidays. She approached Bogere about joining the university team but still had to go through trials.
She made the team.
When she arrived at UCU in 2022, she found a developing team and players working through their own challenges. Nakato Perry was captain before Amuge Aisha took over. When Aisha left, Muzigo stepped into the role in 2023.
She has remained captain since.
For Muzigo, leadership quickly became about more than directing players during matches. She wanted to influence the lives of the students around her, particularly their attitude towards education.
“When I joined the netball team, that’s where I would find people who don’t study; people are just getting retakes.” This concerned her, because as she says, “I’m someone who prioritises academics.”
Her message to teammates was direct.
“If you come here to study, you study. But if you feel like you don’t want to study, better tell the coaches in the very first place,” she says.
That expectation has become part of the culture she has tried to build within the Angels. Her own academic journey has given weight to the message. After completing her Bachelor of Business Administration, Muzigo progressed to a Master of Business Administration at UCU, continuing her education while remaining committed to competitive netball.
She has had to manage lectures, group discussions, training sessions, competitions and leadership responsibilities. Rather than seeing the demands as competing interests, she has learnt to organise her time around them.
“My strength was in attending lectures and group discussions. If you know that’s your strength, go for it,” she explains.
Her experience has also challenged one of the stereotypes she often hears about student athletes.
“People doing sports are dull; people who do sports are this, this and this,” she says. “And I would like to stand today and let them know it’s not all about not being able to think or to reason.”
She uses netball itself to make her point.
A player has three seconds to release the ball, but within those seconds she must decide where to pass, how hard to pass it, how high the ball should go and where the defender is positioned.
“For you to calculate all those things, there is no way you can tell me that you can think all those things in three seconds and you can’t gain anything when you’re reading,” she says.
Her advice to students who want to pursue sport while studying is simple: prepare early.
“Go for sports, come back, shower, get your book and read. They can both happen. And you can succeed in both at the same time,” she says.
Her leadership has also been tested in competition.
In 2023, UCU finished runners-up after losing the university games final to Victoria University. Muzigo remembers facing a team with experienced and national-team players, but she refused to lower expectations.
“Netball is a game of mistakes. Whoever minimises the mistakes… UCU lost by one goal but took home a silver medal,” she says.
The following year brought a different outcome. UCU won gold in the East African University Games held in Maseno, Kenya, with the team having to navigate part of the competition without Bogere, who had joined the national team.
Her time as captain has since produced two gold medals, a silver medal, and a string of successes in national rallies. Muzigo also captained the full sports UCU team of about 150 sportsmen and women during the 2023 University Games and the 2024 East African University Games alongside Joel Kayiira, as well as recently at the AUUS games with Odongo Dickens.
Muzigo later served as Sports Minister in UCU’s 26th Guild Government under the leadership of Agiira Birungi. The position allowed her to take the concerns she had encountered as an athlete directly into university leadership.
She participated in sports committee meetings and advocated for issues affecting athletes, including tuition clearance and meal schedules.
“Being that I was a captain before becoming a sports minister, it was very easy for me to access the sports office and interact with them on different issues,” she says.
She saw the role as an extension of her responsibility to athletes.
“I have been a voice for the athletes,” she says.
That voice eventually reached beyond UCU.
Muzigo was elected chairperson of the Netball Uganda Athletes’ Commission, a role through which she represents players in discussions with the federation.
Her responsibility is to ensure athletes are heard when decisions affecting them are made.
“My role is to close the gap between the athletes and the administration,” she says.
She recalls raising concerns from national team players about their training allowance. After presenting the matter to the federation executive, the allowance was increased.
The role has also taken her into schools, where she speaks to younger athletes about what sport can offer beyond competition.
On Women’s Day, she was invited to Kibuli Secondary School as a guest speaker because of her journey through sport and education.
She sees herself as someone younger players can approach because she has experienced many of the decisions they now face.
“I believe I’m some person who is worth talking to and guiding some of these young athletes here,” she says.
She describes her experience in one phrase: “successful journey”. I’ve used netball to attain academics, right from Primary Five to date,” she says.
