CAIRO (Egypt) - Over the past three years, Nancy Ayman has been one of the most consistent female referees in Africa, officiating game in all age categories, from U16s to seniors, in both club and national team competitions.
Off the court, she is petite with an almost bashful demeanour and a radiant smile. However, when she blows her whistle, she commands respect in a space that she has fought hard to reach.
Ayman's refereeing journey has been nothing short of a miracle.
Her resilience and determination to become one of the best umpires in Egypt has enabled her to overcome doctors' reports that she would never walk again and earn her place as a FIBA referee, just two years after a road accident that left her for dead.
But how did Ayman, an aspiring professional basketball player at Zamalek, become one of Egypt's and Africa's elite? First, it was almost by accident, and then it was through determination and pure grit.
"I started officiating at 15, in 2008, during one of my young brother's (Moaz Ayman) friendly game at Zamalek Club and his coach Waleed Farouk asked me to help officiate. I was an academy player, knew the rules and I just went with it. After the game, retired ref Captain Ayman El Gohar encouraged me to start training for the job, despite the minimum age being 16 and he put me in touch with the Egyptian referee commission. He believed I would become one of the best in Africa, even when I didn't, after watching just that one game," she revealed in an interview with FIBA.basketball.
She stopped playing at 17 to focus on her new-found path, as she was already calling games in that age group and at 22 she finished her referee training and had earned all three licenses in Egypt, making her a top-tier umpire in 2017.
"In 2018 I had established myself as one of the top refs in Egypt, getting the chance to call games in the top tier leagues, which was huge for me. I had the support of a lot of people, without which I wouldn't be where I was at the time," she admits.
However, her life changed forever in 2020, not because of the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to her refereeing career and fitness training job, but because of an incident that threatened her life and her passion for refereeing just two months after she became a mother.
"In March 2020, everything was closed due to the pandemic. In July, things started opening up and in November, the Egyptian federation was conducting its referee pre-selection for the 2021-2023 period. Despite having become a mother recently, I was determined to be there," she explains.
Barely 15 minutes into her drive to the event, having left her two-month old son with her mother, as her spouse was also working, Ayman was involved in a terrible road accident.
"A motorbike cut into my lane and when I tried to brake so as not to hit them, I couldn't control the car. I don't really know what happened but the next thing I remember the car was facing oncoming traffic, and it was wrecked. I thankfully didn't pass out and was able to contact my family (husband and father) and send them my location."
Ayman says first responders, among them a family friend, were able to call for an ambulance, eventually getting four to the scene, and within 15 minutes she was on her way to the hospital. "I was in so much pain when they pulled me out of the car and by the time I was getting to the hospital my blood pressure was so low I had to have blood injected directly into my veins to save my life before transferring to a different facility," she continues.
After a series of tests, her left hip bone was shattered, and the femur, as well as tibia were broken. She was bleeding internally, had glass pieces on her face, and a gaping wound near the left eyebrow. She also had a scratch on her L5 vertebra, and had some damage in her chest.
"All I could think of was how grateful I was not to have my newborn in the car. I was in Intensive Care for four days, before undergoing a 10-hour surgery. I believe that the doctor who performed the procedure saved my life and my career. However, at the time, he didn't believe I would ever sit up properly let alone walk after the two surgeries, as my father would later reveal, but he prepared me for a long recovery," she narrates.
Ayman says the love and support she got from her family and the Egyptian basketball community helped her go through the toughest period of her life. She spent a month in the hospital before moving home.
"I had to move back to my parents house and for another month, I was undergoing treatment in bed, unable to move. In the third month I could sit and from then on, it was a series of physiotherapy and doctors' appointments but I was recovering quicker than was expected. I was on a wheelchair first but I was determined to get out of this situation and by the end of the third month, since the accident, I made my first steps using a walking frame," she says.
The referee admits her determination to get back to her job pushed her to go hard in recovery and rehabilitation and six months later, she was walking on two crutches, before moving down to one. Soon after she was back on her feet and could start working on her fitness, but she didn't stop there.
In October 2021, less than a year after the accident she was back on the court doing a fitness test to get back to the court, a space she fondly describes as 'her happy place'.
"I got back officiating in the same month, a surreal moment. My first big game since getting back came on November 1, 2021 when I was nominated for the Super Cup final. As fate would have it, that was the same day of the accident a year before and the game threw off at 5 pm, almost the same time the incident had happened, despite initially having been scheduled to start at 8 pm. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. But I knew this was fate and since I have faith in God I took it as a sign I was meant to be there. I have never looked back since," she continues.
Ayman says she faced a lot of hostility and doubts when she decided to chase her FIBA officiating license just a year after her accident. "Many felt that with the accident and being a new wife and mother I should be focusing on family and recovery. I, however, stuck to my guns, with the support of my family, as I knew what I wanted. In 2022, nothing was going to stop me from my dream. I had been given a second chance at life and I took it, training through winter, summer and the rains and eventually, in 2023 I got licensed by the global federation."
Her first assignment with FIBA was in Rwanda during the 2023 Women's Basketball League Africa qualifiers, before officiating the final in Alexandria, Egypt in December that year, and the rest is history.
"I am grateful for life and for the opportunity to do something I love. With every assignment, I get better and my confidence and style has improved tremendously in the last two years. I believe this is just the beginning. My target is to officiate the senior AfroBaskets, and every day I put in work to get to that level."
Her dream is, however, to be on the grandest basketball stages, the World Cup and Summer Olympics. "I know it won't happen in an instant, but I have faith in my abilities and I keep working hard to attain these milestones."
Ayman has a long list of people she says have held her hand throughout her arduous journey, her husband, the Egyptian refereeing commission, the basketball fraternity back home and her current boss, Dr. Noha El Torky the director at Sun of knowledge British international school, where she works as a the Physical Education supervisor.
FIBA