Editor: Brenda Mwaniki
On 20th February 2021, Kenyan Men’s National Basketball team, the Morans, made their mark in history at Yaounde, Cameroon after an incredible win against 11-time champions, Angola. The boys put up an impressive dance with a two-point buzzer beater from Tylor Okari to clinch the game. This win gave the Morans a ticket to the Afrobasket 2021, projected to go down in Kigali, Rwanda from August 24th to September 5th. Behind this incredible performance, lies the cumulative effort of a superb coaching unit, players, and management. Morans signed Australian Coach Mills right before the qualifiers as the head coach. In a brief interview with Th3 Doctor’s Report, coach Mills who undeniably played a pivotal role in realizing the great performance from the Morans, had this to say:
1: You have we quite the reputation in the basketball world, where was the genesis of all this glory?
I am from Sydney, Australia. I began coaching at the age of 15 alongside my twin sister.
2: What inspired this decision?
Continually watching the women’s national basketball league motivated me to play, then with that came the thirst to coach. Australian basketball league at that time was donned with great players and strong female head coaches that played a huge role in fanning my decision to coach. Apart from that I have played multiple sports while growing up, from netball to tennis to swimming and to athletics.
3: What has been the greatest challenge while coaching?
Discrimination, a game as physical as basketball has always been mapped by male coaches. Being a lady coach spikes up discrimination from folks who are not very welcoming to the idea.
4: What’s that one tough time in your coaching career that could pass for your lowest moment?
That has to be 2017 when my team then (Zambia) failed to qualify for Afrobasket. I was an assistant coach by then. I, however, took with me very valuable lessons. Through that I purposed to expand my coaching skills, advanced stats and team breakdown.
5: Tell us about your experience with the Morans?
I enjoyed working with them, an amazing batch of talents that puts the team above individual glory.
6: Any projections about Afrobasket?
I am waiting to see who we have on our group first before making any remarks. At the moment we celebrate the win and later we’ll refocus on training.
A true trailblazer. Liz Mills has shown the Moran pride in her. Leading a team out of a 28 years old drought and doing it in a classy manner. What do you call that? Here at Th3 Doctors Report, we call it making history.
Congratulations to the Morans!
Go Morans!!!