William Blick’s elevation to sit on the International Olympic Committee top organ could stimulate the growth of sports in the country.

Sometime back in the seventies, there was a multitalented gentleman called Paddy Blick. He was outspoken on everything to the extent some critics believed he talked his way to the top. At the time, he was coach/player for Lint FC, a top-tier side at the time.

Anyone who recalls those days can remember his antics and animated faces on the touchline. He never settled for less and, even when his team won, he would point out how it could have been better. 

Such was Blick’s huge ambitions that he would later go on to become an even bigger star after quitting football to fully dedicate his career to motorsport. Even after retirement from all forms of sport, the overly ambitious Blick turned attention to administration where he won and lost a few positions. I also recall he even gave a shot at politics.

What I remember about him those days is the love for his children. He rarely left them behind whenever he was in public. One of those was a young William Blick, who always seemed to be the opposite of his dad.

Calm, quiet and composed, the younger Blick never followed his dad’s path in football. Instead, he went for rugby, a sport where he made it to the elite level, playing for Kobs. At the time of Paddy’s death in December 2004, the young Blick was still taking baby steps in sports administration with the Uganda Rugby Union (URU).

But within a few years, Blick had ascended to become the most powerful man in Ugandan rugby. Year 2008 to be exact. His stint as URU president is best remembered for the flood of sponsors into the sport.

It didn’t take long before he got into the Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) where he served as vice president from 2009 to 2013 when he assumed the presidency. And, now that he has ascended to become a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive, Blick has in a way fulfilled his father’s dream.

Personally, this took me by surprise, given that such positions are normally taken by long-serving IOC committee members yet Blick is relatively new and young.

Perhaps IOC members realized the need to have more robust people take it forward. Most importantly, Blick is now in a position to move things.

Granted, he may not be the first Ugandan to sit on the IOC top organ – Maj Gen Francis Nyangweso was – but times have changed and Blick can use the position to lobby for Uganda.

Lest we forget that he is not on the IOC executive to serve Ugandan interests but we all know what it means to have your own at the top.

The 44-year-old is now a national asset which, if utilized well, may reap big rewards. For instance, I don’t expect any more chaos usually associated with Ugandan teams ahead of major sporting events.

Things like who qualifies or not, and venue booking should be in the past now that we have a person who can diffuse any such tension with a simple call. It is about time government lends the necessary support to Blick and UOC policies because I know he can use his influence to position Ugandan sport for equipment, trainings and sponsorships, among others.

TRIBUTE TO KABUNGA

The recent demise of Joseph Kabunga, a former Cranes and Express defender, hardly captured headlines, partly due to his humble demeanor. He rarely talked about his accomplishments oftentimes people would be shocked to learn he was a former Cranes starter.

As a player in the sixties and early seventies, he was part of the powerful Express FC team in which he partnered Ibrahim Dafala in central defence. He was also part of The Cranes team that took part in the 1968 Africa Cup of Nations, won the East African Challenge Cup in 1968, 1969 and 1970 before retiring in 1972.

He bounced back in football in 1987 as an administrator, particularly taking on different roles in Bika By’Abaganda organizing committees.

I got the opportunity to work with him in the late nineties and I found him to be an honest man, who never had any airs usually associated with former stars.