Last week, history was made in Yaounde, Cameroon, when Australian Elizabeth Mills became the first ever female coach to qualify a national men’s team for the Fiba Afro-basket final round when she guided Kenya to finals to be staged in Rwanda in August.
And this was not the only first for the 34-year-old tactician.
She pulled off another first by helping Kenya’s national men’s team, the Morans, beat Angola 74-73, the first ever victory for Kenya over an Angolan team at any level in the history of basketball.
Kenya Morans coach Elizabeth Mills leads her players in celebration after Tylor Ongwae (unseen) made a buzzer beater to help them beat Angola 74-73 during their Group B match of the second and final round of the Afrobasket qualifiers at the Palais Polyvalent des Sports Complex in Yaounde on February 20, 2021.
Mills is happy that, finally, the dream she had been nurturing back home in Australia came to fruition in Cameroon.
Identical twin sister
The third born in a family of three who was born in Sydney just two minutes younger than her identical twin sister to Australian parents, Mills says her goal — since she started coaching in Africa in 2011 — has always been to coach at the Afro-basket tournament and is happy that her dream has, finally, come true.
“I was born in a family of three. Our older sister, then me and my identical twin sister.
“Both of us (twins) started playing basketball at the age of 15 after previously playing multiple sports such a netball, tennis, swimming and athletics,” she said, adding that she specifically came to Kenya, about 13,500 kilometres away from her Sydney home, to work with the men’s national team to realise her dream of coaching at the Afro-basket 2021 finals.
Kenya Morans players and coach Liz Mills after their arrival from Yaounde at the Jomo Kenyatta International Aiport on February 24, 2021.
Mills is grateful to the Kenyan Basketball Federation (KBC), and chairman Paul Otula in particular, for trusting her with this team ahead of the qualification saying she has been on the continent for close to a decade serving on several occasions as head coach at clubs, but this was the first time she was serving as head coach of a national team.
“The players were very warm and welcoming and I believe embraced me from the first practice session.
“They knew I came prepared as I knew every player’s name, having scouted the team’s plays and was able to get right into work with the team at that first practice without an introductions needed.
“They recognised the skills and experience I can bring to the team and have welcomed me into the fold,” an elated Mills told Sunday Nation during this exclusive interview at the Meumi Hotel in Yaounde.
Team ahead of individual
The tactician notes that she has a team-first coaching philosophy, saying she believes that, fundamentally, coaching is about building relationships and this starts with caring about the person first, over the player, adding that, ultimately, she endeavors to create a team culture which promotes players being selfless and putting the team ahead of personal glory.
“There is need for more women to be 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 of basketball,” she said while appealing to federations worldwide to offer top coaching positions to women, saying what men can do, women can do better.
Mills is happy she will be one of the trailblazing female coaches at the helm in Kigali.
Kenya Morans coach Liz Mills during an interview with journalists at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on February 24, 2021.
“I and my twin sister started playing serious basketball when we were only 15 years after growing up playing other sports, but we had been watching women’s basketball since we were 11 and there were some exceptional female coaches at that level which really encouraged me to be one in future”, she said.
She felt it probably sunk in at that level as she wanted to be as good as them too, so she kept working hard, wishing that the opportunity to be a coach would present itself.
She says watching renowned coaches Karen Dalton, Becky Hammon and Greg Popovich fuelled her love for coaching and she now believes women should be trusted more with handling men’s teams.
More women coaches
“I’m personally happy that men’s teams have embraced me in Africa, so it is clear that there is a desire to see more women coaches head these teams.
“It is, however, also important for federations and clubs to trust that women can perform by giving more coaching opportunities to them,” she said.
Mills, who coached Rwanda’s Patriots at the Basketball Africa League (BAL) qualification tournament in Kigali in 2019, a tournament which Patriots won, says she is fully aware that significant progress can only be made in her crusade for more female coaches around men’s outfits if results follow, saying that qualifying the Morans for the Afro-basket finals was good for her.
Australian coach Liz Mills (right) consults Morans assistant coach Sadat Gaya during their training session at Nyayo Indoor Arena on January 30, 2021 ahead of the second window of Afrobasket qualifiers due next month in Cameroon.
Asked why she prefers to wears boots on the court during games, Mills said they are her signature trademark from her time coaching in Zambia.
“It’s a “look” that the fans seem to love, so I’ve just carried on the tradition. Plus at only 5’11 feet tall, I don’t like being towered over by all my players,” she jokingly said.
He biggest worry with the Kenya team is experience going forward. She wants to ensure the team plays as many practice matches as possible before the Kigali event so that the players’ chemistry can flow as they get to know each other and gel.
Mills has a decorated resume with a Masters of Education (coaching) degree from University of Sydney, a Masters in European basketball coaching Science from the University of Worchester and Lithuania Sports Academy, Bachelor of Management in Sports Exercise at the University of Technology in Sydney, along with Basketball Analytics.
She is a qualified Australia National Coaching Accreditation Association coach. Mills has vast experience to boot, having been a consultant at the Fiba World Cup African qualifiers and the Fiba African competitions, besides being assistant coach, head coach, mentor and sports scientist.
She has also been head coach at several clubs in Africa among them Matero Magic, a Zambia Super League men’s team, “Armidale Lions,” South Sudan’s senior men’s team and was also guest coach with the Namibia national team and assistant coach in several teams.
“Prior to coaching in Africa, I coached boys and girls at junior level and then women at the senior level.
Since 2011, I have been a head coach and an assistant coach for men’s club teams, university teams and national teams in Africa,” she said, adding that it is not a preference to coach men, but she has set some goals for herself with men’s teams that she would like to achieve first before looking at opportunities to work with women’s teams again.
On the upcoming Afro-basket finals, Mills says she wants to stay in Kenya for two weeks so that she can have an opportunity to watch the league matches and identify local players to beef up the squad ahead of the arrival of the foreign legion in July.
“I will be here till March 4 when I intend to return to my homeland Australia, but I should be back in time, according to the federation’s arrangements, to start working on the final tour,” she said.
She would want the national team training to start in July, adding that she believes in preparing for an international event for between four to seven weeks, otherwise anything more than that “becomes boring.”
KBF chairman Otula is full of praise for Mills, saying she has proved she has what it takes to deliver and warned Fiba Africa to be ready for a totally new crop of basketball being played in Africa, saying the Morans will spice up the Afro-basket finals in Rwanda in August.
“I’m the one who brought her here. I go for quality and found quality in her and gave her the job,” Otula said, adding that in professionalism, gender does not matter but the ability to deliver the results.
Very respectful lady
Otula is happy that Mills has synchronised very well with the KBF policy and even that of the Kenyan government, saying she is “a very respectful lady” who is also playing a role of big sister to the players who listen to her wise counsel and see her as role model. Besides coaching, she mentors the players a lot.
“I’m happy she also encourages them to handle their finances with a lot of discipline and is indeed the person we have been looking for,” Otula said.
Otula is now appealing to Kenyans not to fear breaking the boundaries, saying there is nothing to fear the other side of the border and one should always go for what it takes regardless of somebody’s gender.
“Let us never look at someone’s gender or race… let’s just get the right person for the job because we live in a globalised world and what stands between us is that scientific approach to the game and high level professionalism,” he implores.
Otula also points out that Mills has perfected the art of networking with stakeholders and does not shut out ideas, welcoming those that can add value to the game.
“She is the central figure we have always been looking for and it’s our prayer that the local coaches also learn from her to help federation uplift the game locally,” Otula added. BY DAILY NATION