You hear “Sarah Cruz” on a UI pitch and your mind, trained by years of watching European football, immediately reaches for a footballer. It isn’t the case here. The name predates football entirely, being self-appended after watching telenovelas from a young age. On our radar for the eighth instalment of this sportlight series was the standout player at the 2026 edition of the Women’s SEALS Cup. Her football story reads less like a straight line and more like a growing collection of leagues, crests, and colours worn.
Adedoja Sarah Oluwabusayo is a student of Forest Production and Products at the University of Ibadan and a resident of Queen Idia Hall. She started playing football properly back in primary school, but her UI football story only began in 2021, her first year on campus. A winger by trade, she plays either flank; however, she had to show a different side to her game at the most recent SEALS Cup while representing UIMSA Femini, dropping into a more defensive role to suit the demands of a seven-a-side format.
Before UI, she never played for any team or academy. But she has featured for Tee Talent Sports Academy and Soccer For All, both UI-based outfits, since she got here. And by her own admission, still technically belongs to both, even though she hasn’t trained with either in several weeks. “I like to say that I am a free bird. Until I sign a legal and professional contract, I am not owned by any club,” she says. Last year, her football took her beyond the university altogether, turning out briefly for the state team, The Pacesetter Queens.
Within UI, her CV alone tells you how long she’s been doing this: three editions of the Sigma League, two SEALS Cups, five inter-faculty tournaments, five inter-hall tournaments, two ABH mini leagues, and a scattering of one-off competitions that never became recurring fixtures.
For individual awards, “medals na water”, she says of trying to remember them all; she has been Sportswoman of the Year for both her department and her faculty in five consecutive years — some of the certificates, she admits, she never even collected. Add to that: Highest Goal Scorer at the 2023 Sigma League; Highest Goal Scorer at the inaugural ABH female mini league in 2023; MVP and Highest Goal Scorer at the 2025 Sigma League; 2nd position at the 2025 VC Marathon; and MVP of the 2026 SEALS Cup. The team honours are Gold from Sigma 2023, Gold from Sigma 2025, Silver from the 2026 SEALS Cup, Gold from the 2023 ABH female league (and Silver in 2026), several golds and a silver representing Queen Idia Hall at interhall competitions, Gold at the Etana 5-on-5 in 2023, and Silver at the Infinix #GameOnWithHot40UI interhall league in 2024. In an odd twist for someone with that many personal-award plaques, she has never once won gold with her own faculty or department.
Her run in the most recent SEALS Cup almost didn’t happen. She only represented UIMSA because her own department had been making plans to field a team but didn’t follow through, so she took up the UIMSA offer instead. It was new territory in an old rivalry because she had never played alongside any UIMSA player before, only against them, having crossed paths on several occasions. And on the flip side, she was playing against her usual teammates whenever she played in other domestic cups. In her words, “That was where the fun was. Playing against people I was familiar with. The subtle banter, the playful challenges before match games, the fierce competition on the pitch, being able to assess my opponents’ strengths and weaknesses… I was there for it all, and I had it. Above all, the sportsmanship we displayed on the field of play. Beyond the wins and the losses, through rise and fall, bruises and injuries, we still looked out for one another and maintained that spirit of sportsmanship,” she says.
The run ended in the final, and with it, an unbeaten streak. “Our unbeaten streak ended, and it felt almost unreal. If you ask me, I still believe the better team won that day because we underperformed. Personally, I didn’t play at my best, and I could say the same for everyone who played that day. Somehow, we lost. It was a long stride and a good fight, I must say. Every single person had put in their best thus far. Some days we win some; some days we lose some. That’s the game, and that’s the beauty of it,” she reflects.
Beyond her own scoresheet, Sarah has clear-eyed views on where female football stands in UI. When asked whether the culture is where it should be, her answer is direct: “It’s not enough. The level of female participation and inclusivity is relatively low.” She’s, however, quick to point to the progress being made, citing initiatives like WINS UI, a community built to foster inclusion for female students regardless of their level of experience, and the growing presence of female categories across most of the school’s major tournaments. But the gap between the men’s and women’s games, in her view, is still visible in how each is run. “Not equal attention is being given towards the female leagues and competitions as compared to the male ones, and that reflects in how they are organised, how athletes are treated, and even the cash prizes and individual awards, which are sometimes not present at all. So little is given for so much effort, and that could be so discouraging,” she says. Her solution to it is one she has voiced before and stands by: “Same thing we’ve been saying over the years. More inclusivity and initiatives centered on women in sports.”
For a player who has quietly amassed one of the fuller trophy hauls in recent UI female sporting memory, Sarah Cruz’s story is really about consistency stacked over years, department to faculty to hall to state colours and back to a UIMSA shirt she’d never worn before this year’s SEALS Cup. Being in her final year means that this year’s SEALS Cup run was likely her last. But she isn’t done just yet; she’s set to turn out for this year’s Sigma League before her time at UI winds down. And beyond campus football altogether, going professional is very much the plan.
