After being crowned FIBA Zone Five women basketball champions on November 5 in Kigali, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) have set their sights on finishing on the podium in Africa’s elite women’s basketball club competition that tips off Monday in Egypt.
Egypt is hosting the inaugural edition of Fiba Africa Women’s Basketball League (AWBL) till December 19 at Alexandria Sporting Club Hall in Alexandria. The AWBL succeeded FIBA African Champions Cup for Women (ACCW), and will feature the continent’s best 12 clubs.
Veteran KPA coach Anthony Ojukwu is chasing his first continental championship, having competed at that level 15 times with the team in the now defunct ACCW without success.
“Our desire is to be on the podium this time like other professionals from the continent. Our best has been number five. On other occasions, we finished eighth,” said Ojukwu.
Ojukwu started coaching KPA in 1996 when he was still a player for the men’s team. KPA go into the continental tournament unbeaten from the qualifiers held in Kigali last month.
In the final match of Zone Five qualifiers held on November 5 at LDK Gymnasium in Kigali, KPA defeated Rwanda Energy Group (REG) 87-53. KPA went through the preliminary group matches, and the knock out stage without losing a match.
Prior to the AWBL qualifiers, KPA had won two matches in the Kenya Basketball Federation Premier League. Last season, KPA successfully defended the league title in style without losing a game in both regular and play-off finals.
The question on the lips of the country’s basketball lovers is whether the dockers will maintain the same form they have shown in the national and regional (Zone Five) tournaments as they meet the top clubs in Africa.
Currently, KPA boasts some of the finest women basketballers in the country such as captain Natalie Akinyi, Hilda Indasi and Selina Okumu. Akinyi had an exceptional performance in the semi-final match of the qualifiers in Kigali against JKL Lady Dolphins of Uganda, sinking in 22 points for KPA.
KPA will also to rely on the services of the Most Valuable Player during the qualifiers, US-based Victoria Reynolds, who scored a total of 109 points and Medina Okot who was the best rebounder.
Speaking before leaving for Egypt last week, Ojukwu said: “I had proposed to the management that the team starts camp on November 15, and I wanted five additional players to join us for the tournament,” said Ojukwu.
AWBL tournament allows four foreign players to join the clubs, two being from the continent.
Ojukwu attributed the team’s success to their sponsors Kenya Ports Authority which he says has given them immense support in various competitions.
“I urge the management to increase the sponsorship to the team. Had we been getting the same sponsorship as footballers (football team), we would have been far, but we thank them as they are assisting us in everything we need as a team,” said Ojukwu.
“If we are well prepared, we will perform well. It is a matter of knowing what our target is,” said Akinyi.
The veteran point guard urged her team mates to treat each game as a final in the AWBL tournament. She further said that winning the qualifiers in Kigali was a way of redeeming themselves from the loss at the hands of Alexandria of Egypt in last year’s finals.
“What motivated us to win at the qualifiers was the fact that our coach (Ojukwu) stayed with us in Kigali despite receiving news of the loss of his mother. We did it for him because he has sacrificed a lot for us,” said Akinyi.
KPA’s team manager Evans Okwera urged the team’s sponsors to explore the possibility of recruiting players on permanent basis and making them full-time employees.
“Instead of a player coming and playing for us and is paid allowances, they should be given full contracts running for, say two years,” said Okwera.
Al Ahly Sporting Club and Alexandria, both of Egypt, are among the the favourites. Rwanda’s REG who were runners-up in Zone Five qualifiers is also a team to look out for.
The draw for the tournament was due to be done Sunday night. The best performance by any Kenyan team in the club competition goes to Eagle Wings who finished third in Meknes, Morocco in 2013 behind Angolan sides Inter Clube and Primeiro de Agosto which bagged gold and silver respectively in the old format of the tournament.
