PHOTOS: What BAL4Her means for young women in Basketball

A host of BAL delegates on Wednesday convened at Umusambi Village in Kabuga for BAL4HER Careers Sports Workshop, a side event of the 2023 Basketball Africa League Playoffs taking place in Kigali. Bal4Her is a project launched by Basketball Africa League (BAL) to empower women and girls aspiring to pursue a career in sports, on or off the court. The one-day workshop featured panel discussions with key players in the sports business industry, networking sessions amidst meals, trust exercises that were revealing of fulfillment and areas in need of growth, and to top it off, seed planting for nature preservation and discussions with potential mentors. Renowned sports journalist Usher Komugisha, Clarisse Machanguana, a Zimbabwean basketball player, Jamad Finn, a Somalian Muslim basketball player and NBA Africa vice president Gbemisola Abudu were among panelists who delved into their journeys and shared the barriers they broke to attain success. Finn’s testimonial was a definite highlight and, as she shared the evolution of her relationship with basketball, the determination and passion she spoke with compelled the room to a standstill. She has four brothers who all play basketball and, when she first started playing the game, it was so they could have an activity with which to bond, but her passion for it kicked in when she least expected and that was challenging in the sense that society wasn’t accepting of a Muslim girl engaging in a sport that was predominantly male. Finn became an internet sensation at the age of 17 when a video of her playing basketball wearing a hijab went viral, and while she’s been on the up and up ever since, the upgrade wasn’t without its struggles. “It’s different to play basketball as a muslim girl in the Us, my parents had never seen that before, the community had never seen that before. People would call my mom and ask why I am wearing sweatpants or why I am playing basketball,” says Finn. “They would tell her to make me go to the kitchen and do girl things. I had to convince my mom every single day to let me play and my dad always encouraged me, and that’s how I first started to play basketball, and it’s been 8 years,” she adds. Machanguana’s story also resonated with many, because the struggles of fitting into a different culture and maintaining a work life balance as she embarked on motherhood evoked empathy, and inspired quite a few delegates. “There’s eating habits I have to abide by as an athlete but when I was pregnant I couldn’t not cater to my child’s needs, so I put in more time to practice in additional hours, because I couldn’t sacrifice my career and basketball is what puts food on the table,” she says. From Machanguana’s story, Lebriel Mukamphizi, a BAL delegate, got inspired and strongly considered employing the same techniques to her life. “One of the things that resonated with me on the panel was Clarisse’s story. I’ve learnt that working hard and keeping an open mind pays off, and I am going to try to do more. Most of the delegates had applied for a mentorship program, and for Maelle Ba, a Senegalese delegate of the league, the sisterhood embedded into mentorship is a win, and the panelist that resonated best with her was Usher Komugisha. “I could feel how much she loved what she did when Usher spoke, and everyone should experience that. I also appreciate the sisterhood that comes with mentorship,” says Ba. Also, in attendance was the BAL president Amadou Gallo Fall who, in a discussion about crossgender mentorship, expressed that he would like to see women mentoring women but it is well within men that make for great mentors as well. I think an individual should choose if they want to be mentored by a man or a woman but, personally, I would like to see women mentoring women of younger generations Fall said.