City Oilers
Wikipedia - City Oilers
City Oilers is a basketball club based in Lugogo, Kampala, Uganda. The team competes in the Ugandan National Basketball League (NBL), where it has won nine championships, the most in league history. The Oilers currently also play in the Basketball Africa League (BAL).
Founded in 2011 by a group of friends, the team is named after its main sponsor City Oil.
History
The club was founded by a group of friends who decided to play basketball together. They started playing pick-up games at courts in Kampala, with former national league players joining. Later, Justus Mugisha became head coach and suggested the team joined a basketball league. In 2011, the team was pitched to the director of oil company City Oil and the team was founded as City Oilers. The team started in the NBL Division III in 2011. Later, the team promoted to the NBL Uganda, which it would win eight straight years from 2014. Additionally, the team made several continental appearances, including the 2009 FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup.
The team played in the first round of the 2022 BAL Qualifying Tournaments where it finished the group play 2-0 but eventually withdrew before the start of the Elite 16. The following year, City Oilers qualified for the 2023 BAL season after beating Urunani in the third place game of the Road to BAL. The Oilers finished 6th in the Nile Conference, winning one game out of five.
The Oilers won their ninth title on 25 October 2023, following a 4-2 series win over the KIU Titans. The following month, they qualified for their second consecutive BAL season when they defeated Dynamo in the Road to BAL semi-finals on 25 November 2023.
In December 2023, Mandy Juruni decided to leave the club for an opportunity in Rwanda. As a response, the Oilers hired his assistant Andrew Tendo as the new head of the team.
City Oilers a fost fondată în 2007 și s-a alăturat Ligii Naționale de Baschet din Uganda (NBL) în 2009. Echipa a câștigat primul său campionat NBL în 2011 și de atunci a continuat să domine liga, câștigând titlul în fiecare an, cu excepția anului 2014. În Cupa Uganda, City Oilers a câștigat prima sa trofeu în 2012 și de atunci a câștigat competiția în fiecare an, cu excepția lui 2014 și 2019.
La nivel internațional, City Oilers a reprezentat Uganda în FIBA Africa Champions Cup de cinci ori și în FIBA Africa SuperCup de trei ori. Echipa a câștigat medalia de bronz la Cupa Campionilor Africa în 2017 și 2019 și a terminat pe locul patru în SuperCupa Africa în 2019.
City Oilers este o echipă foarte populară în Uganda și are o bază mare de fani. Echipa este cunoscută pentru stilul său de joc atacant și pentru capacitatea sa de a produce victorii strânse. City Oilers este o forță dominantă în baschetul ugandez și este una dintre cele mai bune echipe din Africa.