Foundation's female voices: “You don't have to play like a boy to be good”

MIES (Switzerland) - Five women, five continents, five weeks, five stories of resilience, leadership and Basketball For Good leading up to the International Women’s day on March 8^th. For week one, discover the story of Jacobina Tangi Uushona from Namibia, who was a beneficiary of the Basketball Artists School (BAS) supported by the FIBA Foundation.

 Jacobina discovered basketball when she was ten years old. “I remember it like it was yesterday, we had a PE lesson and some coaches came to my school and said they wanted to teach us all basketball. That was the first time I ever heard of it. I was chosen as 1 of 24 kids to be part of BAS and that is my basketball love story. I haven't stopped playing since.”

Jacobina's journey at BAS started when she was only 10 years old

“Basketball is more than just a sport for me, it became a way of life” said the young women. From the second she started basketball, she never played anything else and being part of the Basketball program really changed her life, “I could have learned basketball anywhere, but the values I have, I have only BAS to thank”.

Jacobina is now giving back to program that did so much for her “I am full time volunteer. I help tutor the kids and I am the media liaison and social media manager for the Foundation. With a group of other fully dedicated volunteers, the team handles events for the program and assists in all the ins and outs of the programs' daily running.”

BAS also helped Jacobina make her career choice, “it helped me reshape my life, alter my decision making and allowed me to identify many, if not all my skills. It's thanks to the coaches that I was able to find my love for writing and really delve into it.” The 21-year-old is now a student at the University of Namibia (UNAM) where she is completing a Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies, specializing in Public Relations.

 In the future, Jacobina hopes to build a career in the media industry and as an author but she is also committed to BAS and being part of its growth. “I want to use my skills to improve the program, continuing the social media and PR work and hopefully teach some of the younger kids to take over these departments”.

The young woman firmly believes in Basketball For Good, “basketball can be used as a tool to do more than just play, it shapes lives and impacts communities”. She believes it is important for girls to play “I have grown into a woman of my own word, I know I can do anything I want to do”. Basketball helped her become confident and she hopes to see it happen to other girls.

Jacobina was the media liaison at the 2nd African Mini Basketball Convention held in Namibia

Basketball helped Jacobina achieve success both personally, academically, and professionally, “I have found a team, built a career, was blessed with a family and have built bonds that no amount of time will ever break thanks to that one fateful day in February 2010, when I picked up a basketball.”

To all the young girls she now wants to say, “you don't have to play like a boy to be good. Just play like you, and you'll be great, and you’ll learn so many lessons along the way”.