As a child, it was natural to dream big. It came as easily as breathing air. Some of us dreamed of being an astronaut. Others are superstars. And maybe even a few presidents here and there. But as we grew older, big dreams seemed less and less practical, almost like a nuisance in our daily lives. However, for more than 6,000 young basketball players in Africa, big dreams are a reality that will never be out of reach.
Giants of Africa (GOA), an organization dedicated to inspiring youth through outreach programs, has encouraged young boys and girls the value of dreaming big. Since 2003, GOA co-founder and Toronto Raptors Vice President and President Masai Ujiri has brought together a diverse group of professionals from the African diaspora to build more than 30 basketball courts and help run camps in more than 16 countries.
“We have to look within and realize that each of us can start small, with one idea or opportunity,” Ujiri said. GOA’s AfriCAN event in Toronto. “When we come together and support each other, we can make a real impact.”
By hosting the first Giants of Africa Alumni Gathering held last month in Las Vegas during the 2024 NBA Summer League, GOA was able to bring together former campers and clinic participants to not only lay the groundwork for future endeavors, but also to network. the power and opportunity for the younger generation to play basketball.
“Our dream was just to make sure that the kids who come after us don’t go through what we went through as international students. We wanted to provide an avenue where the transition would be smoother than what we went through,” said GOA co-founder and former Georgetown Hoyas basketball player Godwin Owinje.
Owinje, a current NBA scout and international scout for the Brooklyn Nets, is living proof that having the heart to follow your passions can lead to a higher calling. Coming from a small town in Nigeria’s Delta state, where most kids don’t usually go to college or even graduate from high school, and where soccer runs rampant on the streets, the 6-8 Owinje had to learn what basketball was all about.
“My story (to tell) is that if someone like me can come out of the neighborhood that I came out of, anyone can,” Owinje said.
Although Owinje has undying love for his college team and shouts “Hoyas for Life.” her heart truly goes out to the children whose smiles shine so bright doing what they love.
“We drive home when we talk to these kids that if you dream, own that dream and do everything you can, do everything you can to achieve the goal that you set for yourself, what you are. want to become,” he said.
Ndeye Fatu Bey, a Government graduate (2018) and Senegal-based basketball scout, is one of the many people Owinje and Ujiri have reached out to the program with.
“(The program) opens your eyes to not only say: “I’m a young girl, I’m a black woman, I’m African, I can’t achieve anything.” It made me open my eyes to be able to say, you know what, I can be whoever I want to be if I believe in myself. And the Maasai were always there to tell us that it’s not because you’re from Africa; you can be whatever you want to be in the future and it really affected my life. And yes, until that day, I have the same mindset to always believe in myself no matter what and no matter where I am at the moment,” she says.
Using basketball as a means to achieve her goals, Bey used the confidence she learned at the camp and the lesson in “how to be in a male-dominated society and sports industry” to help promote BAL4HER, which is dedicated to progress. gender equality and women’s leadership while encouraging young women and girls to invest in themselves.
And as an alum, Bay is excited to make a similar impact. “And I think right now, I want to be more influential in young women’s lives right now, because that’s going to make a difference,” she says.
Standing firm as the epitome of what it means to ‘dream big’, Tolulope Omogbehin, popularly known as ‘Omos’, credits his rise in the WWE world not only to his impressive 7-3 height, but also to the lessons he’s learned. young adults in government camps.
“I remember when we first went to camp, Masai said to use basketball as a tool to get where you want to go in life,” Omos recalled. “And as a young person, I never really understood what that meant.”
“Being in WWE for the last five years and doing that, and all the basketball training, perseverance, teamwork, all those things helped me become the professional that I am today,” he said. says:
At the height of what could be called “NBA perfection,” someone like Omos is expected to simply pick up the basketball and run with it. However, for him, using basketball as a tool to navigate an unconventional path opened up a sea of possibilities that set him apart from the rest.
And its success is a testament to that.
“Dream big is like not limiting your life’s possibilities, right?” I think for me, I’ve always had an imaginative mind, and I think the government kind of helped and enhanced that and like, even though you might think this might be the end of you, you might dream before that, because you never know where you’re going to land,” adds Omos. “It can always be a dream, you can always dream.”
As the GOA continues to expand into more countries, build more courts and promote more initiatives to foster growth in the African diaspora, GOA alumni like Omos and Bey continue to inspire, expanding the minds of the next generation of basketball players.
“As I said to them the other day at the alumni gathering, it doesn’t matter how big or small you impact another child, another person’s life or another youth in the life of Africa, it means the world to that person, just like that meant. the whole world when we did it to you,” says Owinje.
Alumni not only impact the lives of young people, they also live, breathe, and testify to the importance of never giving up on a dream, no matter where you are from or no matter how out of reach it may be. as if
Portraits via Giants of Africa.
