All set for USL Awards night
After an action-packed nine months, the Bell Super League will reward the best performers from the past season, 2011-2012 this Friday in Kampala.
This will be the first awards ceremony under the Uganda Super League (USL) dispensation since they were given semi-autonomous powers to run the competition. Kampala Serena Hotel Conference Centre will play host to the event on June 29.
League sponsors, Bell Lager, and partners, Ecobank, plus television rights owners, SuperSport, will roll out the red carpet for the football fraternity, far away from the stands, as outstanding performers are rewarded for their sweat in this aspiring professional league.
The ceremony is scheduled to take exactly two hours and will be a cocktail according to Dennis Mbidde of Worldwide marketing, the agency handling the event.
The ceremony should crown Express’ surge to the championship, their first league title in 16 years. In total, 16 awards will be handed out on the potentially glamorous evening.
Fourteen of them have been named in recognition of great Ugandan footballers and administrators with the biggest being the Footballer of The Year, which is in recognition of arguably the greatest footballer the country has produced, the late Philip Omondi.
Prolific in the 1970s and 80s, Omondi led Uganda to the finals of the 1978 Africa Cup of Nations, top-scoring with four goals. Uganda lost the final 2-0 to hosts Ghana.
Then there is the prestigious award for Coach of the Year in honour of David Otti (RIP), a coaching legend in the country.
The best defender, midfielder, goalkeeper and young player are also part of the list named in recognition of Paul Hasule, Steven Bogere, Sadiq Wassa and Jackson Mayanja respectively.
URA’s Robert Ssentogo will pick the Golden Boot for his 13 goals as his team finished third.
The top scorer’s award is in honour of SC Villa legendary striker Magid Musisi (RIP), one of the few players mentioned in the class of Omondi.
Nominations were done by coaches and captains of the 16 league teams, before they were cut to 15 with the expulsion of Fire Masters. Journalists also gave a hand.
