ABIDJAN (Côte d'Ivoire) - It's not a new phenomenon, but a growing number of former athletes are turning to refereeing, and this trend has reached African basketball.
When personal commitments kept Fanta Toure away from the sport she loved, she knew it was time for a change, and she chose the path less traveled, becoming a referee.
Now refereeing in her second edition of the Women's AfroBasket after her debut in 2023, she is one of two former players in Abidjan who have achieved what the current Mali squad is chasing, winning the title.
Toure got into the sport early, making her first Women's AfroBasket at the junior ranks in 2004 for a sixth place finish before returning two years later to guide Mali to the championship, picking the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.
She also won the-then FIBA Africa U20 Championship for Women the same year, and it was no wonder when, still in her teenagehood, she was named as part of the golden squad of the 2007 that was led by eventual MVP Hamchétou Maïga, the current Malian assistant coach.
She would go on to play in the championship in 2011 and 2015 qualifiers but did not feature at home in 2017 for personal reasons.
"I got into basketball at 11 and while I didn't have a long playing career, I knew I would switch to refereeing once done. My love for fitness guided me to this decision. I loved running and working out a lot, as a player, and any other path, like coaching, would not have given me the opportunity to enjoy that," the three-time (U18, U20, Senior) Women's AfroBasket winner, explained in an interview with FIBA.basketball.
She called time on her career after the 2017 championship and stepped away from the sport for three years before deciding to finally follow her heart and get into refereeing.
"In 2021, I approached one of the instructors back home and expressed interest and barely a week later, I was already being invited to a clinic, " she opens up.
"It was a quick transition for me as I already had an idea of most of the rules, but that's not to say it was easy. I put in a lot of work and at the end of that year, I managed to get my FIBA certification, which was a massive vote of confidence by the global federation as this is never an easy."
She received her first FIBA assignment in 2022, calling the U16 in Madagascar, marking the beginning of what she hopes will be a long career doing what she loves.
"That first assignment ignited a fire in me to keep working harder for the things I wanted. I am a very ambitious person and once I put my mind to something I do by quit until I accomplish it," she went on.
Two and a half years since beginning her refereeing career, the multi Malian champion achieved yet another milestone, calling her first Women's AfroBasket in Kigali, back in 2023.
"I remember my first Women's AfroBasket game, between hosts Rwanda and Cote d'Ivoire. I was so happy to be there. I had put in work to reach that level and I was proud," she nostalgically remembers the match she called alongside Puerto Rico's Johnny Batista and Egypt's Sara El-Sharnouby.
The experience in Kigali, while a huge leap in her career helped her understand that, "I had a long way to go if I wanted to be the best in the craft"
And with that she adds, "I have never stopped working on myself and learning every day as this is a demanding job. However, I had been to the U16 and U18 events but the level in Rwanda was different. It is the same game, same rules but the situations are not similar and the responsibility is bigger."
As she ticks the box for her second Women's AfroBasket in Abidjan, Toure says she is inspired to get better.
"My dream is to referee more AfroBaskets, thanks to FIBA's believe in my abilities, feature at the World Cup and the Olympics, but I know it is a journey that I have to work for," she adds.
Drawing inspiration from fellow referees Mohammed Diawara, who helped her at the beginning of her career, FIBA elite referee Mahamadou Dialo whom she refers to as her mentor and veteran Maiga Awa, Fanta Toure says she's just getting started. More is to come! .
FIBA