AS Sale

THROUGHOUT her time on the African continent, Australia-born Liz Mills has successfully rocked long established traditions in the coaching sphere.

Mills, who has spent over a decade coaching in Africa, has made significant inroads while coaching mostly men’s teams. In the process she achieved major milestones, including as Kenya Morans coach and now in her new role as coach of Moroccan club A.S. Sale.

The former Morans coach, who spoke to The Big Tip Off via Zoom on Monday, became the first woman to qualify and lead a men’s national team to international competition last year. While Mills and Kenya have since gone their separate ways, she reflected on what was a fulfilling time for her.

“It was an exciting, rewarding but also challenging journey. A year ago, I was with the Morans, a team that had not seen the AfroBasket for 28 years. When we qualified, it was a historic moment. Not just for myself as a woman, but for Kenya as a whole. Being able to help them achieve a goal they set in 2019 and leading them to the tournament was rewarding,” said Mills, who felt the eyes of the world on her during the tournament in Rwanda.

“I also understood the significance of the occasion. That weighed heavily on me, understanding that I am representing female coaches in the way I carried myself, and how the team performed. It felt like I was always under scrutiny. It was constantly on my mind. I wanted to represent female coaches to the best of my ability. I wanted to make them proud when they saw me leading the way with Kenya.”

Mills would eventually lead the Morans to the playoff round at the AfroBasket, but her time with the East African team came to a surprising end early this year. Both parties have since moved on. While she regards the chapter on the Kenya national team as closed, she still has interest in coaching national teams.

“I knew straight after the AfroBasket I had achieved everything I had wanted with Kenya. I was happy with the time I spent there and to have been a part of their journey, but it was time for me to move on. I’m not shutting the door on working with any team. For the second window of the world cup qualifiers I am available, but my time with Kenya is over. We were going in different directions,” said the A.S. Sale coach, who will become the first woman to lead a team to the Basketball Africa League competition, which tips off on March 5.

It’s not the first time Mills has had contact with the Moroccan Division Excellence club. She initially got in touch with Sale, ahead of the inaugural BAL tournament, but nothing concrete materialised.

“I had reached to Sale two years ago. We tried to work out a way for me to come and coach there. Unfortunately, things did not work either from their side or mine. I was supposed to coach them for the first BAL tournament last year. In the end, it just did not work out,” said the Mills, the first female head coach of Sale.

“Coaching Sale is ground-breaking. There has never been a woman head coach at a North African men’s team at the national or club level. Also, when Sale heads to the BAL, I will be the first woman to lead a men’s team to that tournament. So, I am breaking the barriers as I go along.”

 

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Apart from achieving career landmarks, joining the 2017 African club champions is a level up for Mills. She feels the team has good management, and their reputation on the continent speaks volumes.

“I wanted a new challenge and to coach a more experienced team, who are also more professional in their approach. A club like A.S. Sale is a prestigious, successful and historic club in Africa. I have also worked a lot in sub-Saharan Africa, so crossing over to the north to engage with a different style of play is something I needed to do as a coach,” said Mills, who will lead Sale to their second BAL appearance.

The former Patriots Basketball Club (Rwanda) assistant coach was also impressed with the talent pool available to Sale for this year’s campaign.

“Any opportunity to work with players of this calibre, be it at the national league or BAL, would be a good experience for myself as a coach. We have great veteran players and a good core of young players coming up, which is exciting for me,” said Mills, whose team imported three lethal scoring weapons and have BAL experience.

The addition of American combo guard Terrell Stoglin, shooting guard Abdoulaye Harouna of Niger and Spanish power forward Alvaro Masa make for an impressive arsenal. Taking the final slot is Kenyan small forward Albert Odero. Sale also have some good local stand out players like veterans Zakaria El Mabashi (guard) and Najah Abderrahim (forward), who Mills holds in high regard.

“We have Zakaria who is a legend on the continent. He is the Eduardo Mingas of Moroccan basketball. He is a sharp shooter. At 42 he has done well to take care of his body. He will do a great job for us coming off the bench. There is also Najah. I think he was the MVP of club championships in 2017. He is also one of the best power forwards in Africa,” said Mills. “The club had already brought in their imports before I got here. I am pleased with them. Terrell, Abdoulaye and Alvaro were the leading scores in the BAL. So we have some firepower. I coached Albert during my time with the Morans. There is a nice mix of offensive talent and defensive stoppers.”

Mills also spoke highly of the eight-time Division Excellence winners’ chances of seizing this year’s BAL title. “This team has a history of success at this level. We aim to win the BAL. That is our goal. We will not be satisfied unless we go out and win the BAL.”

Before Sale can even think of winning the BAL tournament, they will first have to navigate their way past a tough Sahara Conference group.

Last year’s finalists U.S. Monastir (Tunisia), are favourites to win the group. Meanwhile five other teams, in the form of Rwanda Energy Group (REG) BBC, Dakar Universite Club (DUC) Basketball, Seydou Legacy Athletique Club (Guinea) and Ferroviario da Beira (Mozambique) are dark horses and will look to stand in the way of Sale.

Mills says their group presents a stiff challenge and that whichever team progresses will be better equipped to withstand the knockout stages.

“I think we are in the much harder conference. It’s a great thing because if you can get wins in this group, then the first crossover in the quarter-finals will be a bit easier. After all, the games were much harder,” said Mills, who looks forward to the battle against the Tunisians. “Monastir is the favourite. Most of the players compete for the Tunisian national team. That’s a match-up that excites us. It’s also a great measuring stick for us.”

Mills has already cemented herself in basketball lore for breaking barriers, but she is not one to be content. Her new coaching assignment has heightened her ambition. As she gets ready to steer the A.S. Sale ship, would it be far off the mark to imagine the promised land lies in wait for her?