Spain-based national basketball team player Mercy Wanyama is eager to make history at the 2019 AfroBasket Women’s championship.
“This will be my second national team assignment after the Kampala qualifiers in June and I am going out there to give it my all. Afrobasket is tough and physical but I am ready. We will do our best,” said Wanyama.
The experience the team gained in Kampala, she noted, will be vital at the Augusts 10-20 Dakar festival, where they face Cape Verde and Mozambique in group ‘D’.
“We will share the ball, we will shoot a lot more as we seek to leave a mark. Above that, we are also going there to use the platform to learn from some of Africa’s top players,” added Wanyama.
National team coach Ronny Owino said Wanyama, the youngest sister to two of the country’s most successful football players, Victor Wanyama and Macdonald Mariga, will have to carry the heaviest load in the team.
“She is fine both in attack and defence. She scores, she can take on bigger opposing players and she is a team player with very positive attitude and that is what we need,” said Owino.
Wanyama, who returned home a week before the Kampala qualifiers, plays professionally for Adba. Two years ago she was named Kenya Basketball Federation Premier League MVP after guiding Equity Bank to a national title.
“We will not underrate any team in the championship and we will not fear any team either. The experience we gained in Kampala will be vital,” she said.
Speaking during the team’s training at Nyayo national stadium gymnasium, she said: “We shot a lot, shared the ball a lot and worked hard on the defensive drills during training. We are now defending the way we want to.”
Another big boost to the team is the arrival of Uganda-based player Georgia ‘Ching Ching’ Odhambo, who was unable to join the team during the Kampala championships due to work commitments.
While Owino welcomed Odhiambo to the side, he is also at a loss with the duo of Felmas Koranga and Purity Odhiambo unavailable due to commitments in their respective bases in the US and Bangladadesh.
