KBF appoints Mayienga as Lionesses coach, Afrobasket squad named

Dennis Kamarikiin Nairobi

George Mayienga has been appointed the new head coach of Kenya women’s basketball team ‘Lionesses’.

Mayienga has been charged with guiding the ‘Lionesses’ back to the top after years of underwhelming performances.

Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) Secretary Ambrose Kisoi says they were forced to look for a new head coach after the immediate former coach Ronnie Owino stated that he didn’t want to continue with his duties, thus settling for the 53-year-old.

“Coach Owino had declared to us long ago that he was not going to handle the national team again and that pushed us to look for his replacement,” he said.

At the same time the national team captain and KPA shooting guard Hilda Indasi is the surprise omission from the squad of 22 named by the KBF to report to camp ahead of the 2021 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket Zone Five Qualifiers.

The qualifiers are scheduled to take place in Egypt from July 5-10. Other notable absentees are Equity Bank’s trio Betty Samba Mjomba, Betty Kananu and Belinda Akoth.

Only two players that participated in the 2019 edition in Dakar, Senegal have been called up. They are Georgia Adhiambo Otieno who plays for Ubumwe BC of Rwanda and Mercy Wanyama who plies her trade with AD Cortegada in the USA.

The team will report to camp at the Nyayo Stadium Gymnasium on May 1st to start preparations for the 2021 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket Zone Five Qualifiers in July.

The last time Lionesses played in the prestigious continental tournament was in 2019 in Dakar Senegal where they finished at a dismal 11th place out of the 12 participating teams.

After their heroics in Dakar, Senegal in 1993 where Kenya bagged the silver medal in the AfroBasket and booked a ticket to the 1994 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Australia the performance of Lionesses in Africa hasn’t been that impressive.

Meanwhile Kisoi says only 12 players will be selected for the final list.

“We congratulate the players and technical bench who have received the call-up. It’s a very noble cause to represent the national team and only 12 players will get to the final list,” he said.

At the same time Kisoi has challenged the team to emulate their male counterparts Morans and do much better in the competition.

“We are encouraging them to work hard so that they can match up the performance that was shown by the men’s team. Ordinarily our women’s teams have been performing better than the men’s teams but this time round Morans did a fantastic job and we wish the ladies to outdo them,” he added.

The men’s team head coach Liz Mills has been included in the technical bench as technical assistant.

Full Squad

1. Felmas Koranga-Troy University, USA
2. Mercy Wanyama- AD Cortegada, Spain
3. Victoria Wanjara- USA
4. Clara Rotich- Tyler Junior College- USA
5. Purity Auma- Bangladesh
6. Brenda Adhiambo- USA
7. Rose Ouma-Al Nasr, UAE
8. Mary Lisa- KPA
9. Natalie Akinyi- KPA
10. Melisa Akinyi- Equity
11. Velma Achieng- KPA
12. Selina Okumu- KPA
13. Georgia Adhiambo- Ubumwe BC , Rwanda
14. Christine Akinyi- Zetech
15. Jemmimah Knight- Storms
16. MaryAnne Nyagaki- Equity
17. Liz Okumu- UON
18. Medina Okot- KPA
19. Ritah Oluoch- Equity
20. Becky Muthoni Nkatha- KPA
21. Taudencia Katumbi- KPA
22. Ashley Minayo- Riara

Head coach

George Mayienga

Assistant Coaches

Mike Opel

Eunice Ouma

Tony Ochieng

Technical Assistant

Liz Mills

Team Manger

Sylvia Kamau.