Nairobi (AFP)

For the first time in twenty-eight years, Kenya will participate in AfroBasket, a return to the flagship African basketball tournament that it owes to the Australian Liz Mills, an ambitious pioneer for its players and for women coaches.

Thousands of kilometers from Sydney, her hometown, Liz Mills will definitely make history Wednesday in Kigali when her team face Côte d'Ivoire: she will become the first woman to lead a men's team at AfroBasket, the African Nations Championship, and will further cement its exceptional status in world basketball and more generally in sport.

"I am very privileged and grateful to have had this opportunity in Africa. I know that I could not have had it elsewhere," Liz Mills told AFP.

His African adventure began in Zambia in 2011, as a volunteer during a humanitarian mission.

She asks to coach a team for the 2011-2012 season, without ever having led men until then.

First attempt, master stroke: his team won the national title.

“I was a bit of a rarity,” she adds.

“I felt left out at times, because of my age and obviously my gender. It shouldn't be, but unfortunately it's the same all over the world for women trying to train. men".

- "Dream come true" -

After being an assistant coach for the men's teams in Zambia and Cameroon, Mills took control of the 'Morans', the nickname for Kenyan basketball players last January, and she wasted no time.

“In 2012, I said in Zambia that I wanted to be the first woman to coach at AfroBasket,” Mills recalls.

"Qualifying for the Morans is a dream come true. There have been a lot of ups and downs to get here, but I'm very happy I got there."

The Kenyan basketball team and his coach Liz Mills pose after a training session in Nairobi, August 20, 2021 Simon MAINA AFP

In sports gear, but wearing high heeled boots, to get closer to his most imposing players, Mills made his dream come true last February when his team landed their ticket to AfroBasket by beating Angola 74 to 73. , crowned eleven times African champion.

According to her, African basketball "is evolving in the right direction": "I think it is only improving in quality thanks to the development of NBA academies and programs like + Giants of Africa +, + Basketball Without Borders +, camps independent for juniors ".

Asked about the secret to her success as a coach, Mills insists on her core philosophy: building good relationships with her players.

- "First stage" -

"The players don't really care what you know. Above all, they want to be taken care of, not only as players, on the pitch, but also as people," he said. she.

She wants to build on this philosophy to achieve her next goal: to qualify Kenya for the 2025 World Cup.

"The AfroBasket is the first step on a long journey to the World Cup. As long as you become one of the best African teams," insists the 34-year-old Australian.

Kenyan basketball player Bush Wamukota tries to dribble past an Eritrean player during a qualifying match for Afrobasket on January 14, 2021 in Nairobi SIMON MAINA AFP / Archives

"We are not going to set a limit (...) We are going to surprise a lot of teams", she warns, while Kenya is opposed in Group C of AfroBasket to Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria , ex-champion of Africa who participated in the last Olympic Games in Tokyo, and in Mali.

And this is not her only mission: she hopes that her career will give ideas to other federations and other coaches.

"My goal is to keep the door open for other women and to encourage them. I hope that in the years to come, we will be talking about the 100th or 500th woman to do what I did this year" , she insists.

© 2021 AFP