With a height of 194cm and a sleek body, she practically dominates the court, gliding around smoothly, and making baskets with ease, and she dunks real hard.
This gentle young girl born of a former refugee family made history recently as the first Finnish female Basketball player to be drafted into the WNBA. It did not come to me or anyone who followed her career closely as a surprise.
She was my daughter’s close friend and teammate when they were in the under 16 girl’s national team and had a couple of sleepovers at the house, which offered me the opportunity to observe her at close range.
She has a very natural dignified personality, quite easy-going; a young girl who knew where she was heading, coupled with the determination to get there.
Who is Awak Kuier
She is of South Sudanese origin and was born in Cairo.
Her parents moved to Finland in search of refuge due to the hostilities that pervaded Sudan at the time.
She was only two years old when the came to Finland.
She attended Karhula High school and Makelanrinne Upper Secondary School respectively.
Awak’s success so far has shown that any child, his or her background notwithstanding, when exposed to the available opportunities, and without boundaries, will definitely make progress.
Her success will serve as a motivation for every girl child, especially those of the minority communities in Finland.
We give Kudos to the Finnish Basketball Association and also her former coaches and clubs for their fantastic role in building her carrier, for, without their positive actions, this big step in her carrier, and in the Finnish Women Basketball history wouldn’t have happened.
Let us not also forget her parents who stood for her, and who did not allow cultural and traditional differences to become a stumbling factor in her quest to pursue her dreams.
To us at the Liikkukaa Sports4All organization, successes like this strengthen our purpose, giving us more turbo to push and work tirelessly on the issue of promoting Social Inclusion through Sports, in furtherance of our vested interest in building a society where everyone will have equal opportunity to develop their God-given talent and skills.
Ike Ude-Chime is a freelance journalist and a member of
the Finnish chapter of the European Journalist Network
