Merceline Wayodi set out, some time last year, to try and expose herself to a different challenge after what appeared to be routine league victories with Vihiga Queens in the Kenya Women’s Premier League (KWPL). Kampala Queens was her destination, but what she would encounter was far from what she had been accustomed to in the KWPL. Follow our WhatsApp channel for more news It would be the first time she ended a season without a trophy in a long time. Fast-forward to 2025 and she now boasts of having conquered the Ugandan top flight too.Kampala Queens clinched to the 2024/2025 Ugandan Super League title ahead of Kawempe Muslim Ladies in a tightly contested season. ##NAJAVA_MECA_8976962##Finishing 4 points adrift of their closest competitors, Queens reclaimed their long lost title and will represent Uganda in the annual CECAFA Zonal Qualifiers. Wayodi reveals how they did it. ‘’We set our targets throughout the season. Last season we fell short, finishing in second position and had to do something different,’’ said the midfielder. As decorated as she is, and with enough experience of both the Kenyan and Ugandan to flight leagues, Wayodi is coy to draw comparisons. Chaos in Camp: Are Harambee Starlets being set up for failure?At Vihiga, with the club experiencing a long queue at the exit at the time, she had been tasked with captaining the team. Former skipper Enez Mango had left for Europe. This she says, added immense pressure on an individual so when the team eventually won the league title, it came with relief. ‘’I think the pressure at Vihiga Queens was more because I had the captain’s armband and was charged with leading the team. At Kampala the pressure was not there so much so I could just focus on delivering as a player. In my opinion, winning the Kenyan title was the toughest I have ever had to fight,’’ she says. Why Harambee Starlets assistant captain declined CECAFA tournament call-upBoth leagues, however, in her opinion offer a completely different set of challenges. ‘’Every league has its area of toughness. The way Ugandans play is different from the Kenyan style,’’ adds Wayodi saying she sees a bright future for both as regards professionalism in the way the leagues are handled.‘’Both leagues are tough in their own ways and as regards growth, there is a lot of room for development. In say two to three years, the East African region will have fully professional women’s leagues,” she remarked. Wayodi turned out eleven times for the side, scoring twice from her deep-lying midfield role and ensuring Queens maintained pole position on the 12 team log as well as stay in contention for the domestic cup. Is Alpha Onyango McCarthy’s blue-eyed boy for CHAN?An injury set-back stopped her in her tracks and the former Kisumu All Starlets and Oserian anchorwoman had to sit out a good portion of the second leg. Even though keeping up the momentum in the league, her teammates fell short in the cup thus erasing any hopes for a domestic double.‘’I do not think my injury hurt the team so much. The team actually won a lot of games in my absence and only slacked towards the end due to fatigue. We actually wanted a double including the domestic cup but it didn’t pan out,’’ she offered.As she nears full recovery, all she is focussed on is getting back on the field with a clean bill of health as she has never, in her own word, been out this long. It started to feel at some point an unfamiliar territory. Football stars discuss mental health, business, and life after football at second Game Continues Players’ Clinic‘’At the moment, I am mainly focused on nursing my injury back to full fitness. I have realised lately that everything happens for a reason and God has plans for every occurrence. It has been hard because this is the first time in my career to be out this long but I will be back soon,’’ she added. Wayodi has in the past made the national team shortlist and will be gutted to miss out on this year’s CECAFA Women’s challenge set for Tanzania due to her injury.
