KAMPALA (Uganda) - Uganda champions City Oilers journey to the Basketball Africa League (BAL) started in 2022 but the team has yet to make it to the tournament's finals.
And this is the narrative that the team’s current Head Coach Andrew Tendo wants to change as they head to the upcoming BAL Elite 16 East Division not for the first time though.
They have been to the continent's premier club competition before and have picked up valuable lessons, but in all their efforts, the Kampala-based powerhouse have yet to fulfil their full potential.
City Oilers made their debut in the first round of the continent’s premier club competition two years ago where they finished the group stage with a 2-0 mark.
A year later, they again did well to qualify for the 2023 BAL season after they dispatched Burundi giants Urunani in the Road to BAL battle in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
The Oilers then finished 6th in the Nile Conference after posting one win in their five matches.
In their second consecutive BAL season, they met and beat another tough Burundian side Dynamo in the Road to BAL semi-final tie also in the Tanzanian port city.
Tendo, who grew through the ranks in the club, also played for the team before he started to work with veteran coach Mandy Juruni to shape the Ugandan juggernaut.
He took full control of City Oilers after Juruni, a former Uganda Silverbacks guard, left the club in December 2023 for a different assignment in Rwanda.
Tendo disclosed that they are fortunate that the Ugandan league ended earlier and that the team have had ample time in which to just focus on the Elite 16 tournament.
They have maintained the bulk of the players who helped the team claim their tenth successive title by trouncing fierce rivals Kampala International University (KIU) Titans 4-0 in the Play Off finals.
In their quest for honors in the BAL this time round, they have boosted their chances with the presence of two star players - Perry Petty and Germain Roebuck who is no new name to the side.
Besides the duo who featured for the team in the Elite 16 tournament in Johannesburg, South Africa last year, Tendo said they are exploring other options as well.
"We have made a couple of additions to the team and the time as we wait has mainly focused on team chemistry." He told FIBA.basketball.
He went on saying: "Unfortunately we have not made it to any BAL Finals tournament yet, hopefully this will be the time we make it there."
The tactician has sent a strong message to his opponents in his first assignment as Head Coach. "Like all coaches in this tournament, we want to get to the BAL Finals."
The tactician revealed that they have started practices with moderate intensity and have also played a couple of friendly games as they shape up for the BAL after a gruelling season.
Tendo. who worked with NBA Academy coach Karim Nesba during the Camp and the Nile Conference in Cairo Egypt, to hone his skills believe the effort will come in handy when the festival finally tips off.
On why Oilers have been on top in Uganda for years’. coach Tendo notes: "You have to treat each season like it's your first season and also we had a young core from the start that have kept together for the ten seasons."
To succeed in the BAL, early preparations, rightful state of mind and mental conditions will be key to help the team go through the tough games.
In June 2024, Tendo guided Uganda junior teams to the top of the podium in the U 18 Africa championship at home in Kampala, can he continue his magic with the City Oilers?
FIBA