Kenya national men’s basketball team head coach Liz Mills has called upon basketball federations across the continent to grant women more coaching opportunities.
The coaching realm is dominated by men, with Mills as the only woman of a national team in Africa.
Last evening, the Australian tactician led the Kenya Morans to their first FIBA AfroBasket tournament in 28 years. The team beat 11-time continental winners Angola 74-73 in nail-biting match in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
“We need to see more women trusted with top coaching positions in men’s teams in Africa because this will truly mean that there is gender parity and women’s empowerment in the sport,” Mills told FIBA.basketball.
Mills has achieved what men in similar position could not while at the helm of the Morans.
Her passion for the sport dates back to her sins. “My twin sister and I grew up playing a lot of sport in Australia but we started with basketball when we were 15,” she says. “But we had been watching women’s basketball since we were 11 and there were some exceptional female coaches at that level.”
Prior to her Kenyan assignment, Mills was the assistant coach at the Zambian national team side.
“My experiences as deputy coach have been amazing and I’m tapping from them to handle this position well and produce the results expected,” she said.
The FIBA AfroBasketall tournament will be held in Kigali, Rwanda, from Aug., 24-Sept., 5
