The first of five children, she was brought up in a middle-class environment. She attended the Egbu Girls Secondary School Owerri, before heading to Delta State University. While in secondary school, Uche began playing football. In her playing days, she played for Bendel Striking Queens, present-day Edo Queens, Rivers Angels, and Ufuoma Babes, present-day Delta Queens. She later played for the Nigerian National team Super Falcons. In her playing days, she became the first African female to be named Top Scorer in an international match, as well as the first Nigerian female to score an international hat-trick, Nigeria vs Ghana 1999. She went on and became their first female coach. In 2010, she became the first woman coach to win an African Women's Championship title.[3] She was sacked in October 2011 after Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics.[4]
