::. Emma Nyakweba| Position: Forward| Team: Eastern Queens

Emma Nyakweba

Nyakweba in action during her campus days at JKUAT. She was instrumental as the JKUAT Lynx won the UCBL Ladies Title for the first time ever in 2006. She was later named MVP of the 2006 UCBL Season

Eastern Queens forward, Emma Nyakweba is a clear case of a player who has improved her game by the day, since her appearance for Jomo Kenyatta University of Science & Technology-JKUAT Lynx in the Universities and Colleges Basketball League-UCBL, through the Division two League, before her breakthrough in the country’s top league for the Sprite Storms, and now, the Eastern Queens.

Emma started her basketball career at Kaimosi Girls High School while in form one in 2001. She started to play competitively in 2005 after joining the Dream Team in the Nairobi Basketball Association Division Two league. Her aggressiveness, determination and willingness to learn caught the eye of Coach Ben Oluoch, who drafted her in the Sprite Storms basketball team at the country's top women's league, the Premier League. She played for Sprite Storms for three and a half years before crossing over to Eastern Queens for the 2009 season. With the Eastern Queens, Emma is a vital component as the team focuses their sights on the finals and championship in the debut season.

With her game improving by the day and her aggressive nature, Emma earned and solidified her presence as a forward to reckon with at both ends of the court and within the women's basketball league in the country. At the international scene, she was on top form at the 2007 Eastern & Central Africa Club Tournament in Rwanda with Sprite Storms, and later at the East Africa Intercities Championships in Nairobi (2007). Her successes in the regional fete earned her first Kenya National Team call up and was a forward for the Kenya team in Rwanda Zone 5 qualifiers in February 2009. Emma also played in the East Africa Intercities Championships in Arusha, Tanzania (March 2009) as part of the Nairobi City Team. She has played under Coach Ben Oluoch (Sprite Storms), Ronnie Owino (National Team & Nairobi City Team) and now, Coach Abel Nson (Eastern Queens).

For Emma, its about making a difference both on and off the court, and she believes that "Ordinary people who achieve greatly are not extraordinary, it’s just that they do ordinary things in an extraordinary way".

Opinion

Your say about Kenyan basketball?
We need players to be treated well with respect allowed to take place in decision making and try to develop it into pro or semi pro and enjoy games

What can and needs to be improved?
Officiating, better communication and have shorter seasons by avoiding walk overs and all.

Take on Josephine Owino joining the WNBA as the first Kenyan and East African??
Am proud of her and hope Sarah Chan and Rose Ouma follow the same steps and I wish them all the best.

Take on Thabeet Hasheem joining the NBA as first Tanzanian and East African?
Wish we could get more men from Kenya because we have very talented players but they ain’t using that.

Ambition & Personal Philosophy
“You have to go the extra mile so as to achieve what you want, and don't forget God in all that you do".

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