I’ve always wanted to be a coach, says 31-year-old D’Tigress Coach
Coach Rena Wakama of Nigeria Female Basketball side D’Tigress says she has a calling to be a coach.
31-year-old Wakama who was an ex-D’Tigress in an interview she granted Vanguard noted that she was involved since she graduated from college.
According to her, she graduated from college in 2014 and then in 2015 and was with them (D’Tigress) when they travelled to Cameroon (AfroBasket).
She explained that they did not qualify; as they finished third or fourth and so we did not qualify. She played for the club (First Bank) and we won a championship. But was also involved in 2015/2016.
After that she moved on to start the process to becoming a coach because that had always been on my mind. But she wanted a good career as a coach. Many people don’t know that getting into coaching here in America is extremely hard but had her mind made up to coach and was ready yo go through the process no matter how difficult.
She said, “I knew my journey, I knew my task; I knew I wanted to be a head coach someday and so I knew I had to give it a shot sooner or later.”
“Okay, I’m about 31. 31.Maybe because I knew I wanted to be a coach. I knew that was my calling; that was what I wanted to be. I knew that was my journey; I knew I had more impact organising a team.”
Our correspondent reports that Wakama was a four-year letterman at the University of Western Carolina and played professional basketball in the United Kingdom, in addition to playing for the Senior Nigerian National Team.
“She received a bachelor’s degree in therapeutic recreation from Western Carolina in 2014 and an MBA from Manhattan in 2019.
Highlight
▪️ The only female coach at 2023 Women AfroBasket Championship
▪️ First outing with Nigeria
▪️ Four games played
▪️ Four games won
▪️ Qualified Nigeria for the 4th consecutive Women AfroBasket Championship final
Wakama Ball is here to stay!
