Giants of Africa Alumni Bring Hoops and Big Dreams to the African Diaspora

As a young child, dreaming big was natural. He came easily, like a breath of fresh air. Some of us dreamed of becoming astronauts. Others, superstars. And maybe a few presidents here and there. But as we got older, dreaming big felt less—almost like a nuisance in our daily lives. However, for more than 6,000 young basketball players in Africa, dreaming big is an unattainable reality.

AN ORGANIZATION dedicated to encouraging youth through outreach programs, Giants of Africa (GOA), has encouraged young boys and girls on the importance of dreaming big. Since 2003, GOA founder and former Vice Chairman and President of the Toronto Raptors, Masai Ujiri, has assembled a diverse group of workers from the African diaspora to build more than 30 basketball courts and help lead camps in more than 16.

“We have to look within and realize that each of us can start small, with one idea or opportunity,” Ujiri said at GOA's AfriCAN event in Toronto. “When we come together and support each other, we can make a real impact.”

Hosting the first ever Giants of Africa Alumni Reunion, held in Las Vegas last month during the 2024 NBA Summer League, GOA was able to bring together former campers and clinic participants to not only set the stage for future programs but also to network and the community. a new generation of power and opportunity after playing basketball.

“Our dream was to make sure that the children who follow us do not go through what we went through as students from other countries. We wanted to provide a way for the transition to go better than what we went through,” said GOA founder and former Georgetown Hoyas basketball player Godwin Owinje.

Owinje, a current NBA 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 area in Delta State of Nigeria, where many kids don't go to college or even finish high school, and where football runs a lot on the streets, Owinje 6-8 had to learn what basketball is.

“The reason I am [tell] [my] the issue is that if a person like me was able to leave the place I come from, anyone can do it,” said Owinje.

Although Owinje has undying love for his college team and shouts “Hoyas for Life!” his heart lies in the smiling children who always shine brightly while doing what they love.

“We emphasize, when we talk to these children, that if you dream, have that dream and do everything you can, do everything you can to achieve the goal you set for yourself that you want to be,” he said.

Ndeye Fatou Beye, a GOA alum (2018) and current basketball scout in Senegal, is one of the many people Owinje and Ujiri have reached out to in the program.

“[The program] it opens your eyes so that you don't just say, 'I'm a little girl, I'm a black woman, I'm African, I can't achieve any goals.' It made me open my eyes, to be able to say, you know, I can be whoever I want to be if I believe in myself. And Masai was always there to tell us that it is not because he is African; you can be who you want to be in the future, and that has really impacted my life. And yes, until that day, I have the same mindset to always believe in myself no matter what happens and no matter where I am right now,” he said.

Using basketball as a stepping stone to achieving her goals, Beye used the confidence she learned at the camp and a lesson in “how to be in a male-dominated society and sports industry” to help promote BAL4HER, a program dedicated to empowerment. gender equality and women's leadership while encouraging young women and girls to invest in themselves.

And as an alum, Beye is excited to make a similar impact. “And I think that right now I want to have a big impact on the lives of young women right now because that will make a difference,” he said.

Standing strong as the epitome of what it means to “dream big,” Tolulope Omogbehin, popularly known as “Omos,” shows her rise to the WWE world not only with her impressive 7-3 frame but also with the lessons she learned as a player. young adult in GOA camps.

“I remember the first time we 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 didn't really understand what that meant.”

“It wasn't until I was in WWE five years ago and I did that, and all the training from basketball, the patience, the teamwork—all those things helped me become a professional at what I do today,” he says.

In what one might call “NBA perfection,” it's expected of someone like Omos to just pick up the basketball and run with it. However, for him, using basketball as a tool to take a non-traditional route opened up many opportunities that set him apart from others.

And his success is proof of that.

“'Dream big' is like having no end in terms of your life's possibilities, right? I think for myself, I've always had a mindset, and I think GOA helped and expanded that and more, while you might think that this might be your end, you can dream before that, because you don't know where. he will come,” added Omos. “It can always be a dream, you can always dream.”

As the GOA continues to expand to more countries, build more courts and drive more efforts to promote the growth of Africans living in Africa, GOA alumni like Omos and Beye continue to inspire, nurture the minds of the next generation of players. -basketball.

“As I told them in a gathering of students who were studying the other day, it doesn't matter how big or small you are, you affect another child, another person's life or another youth in the life of Africa, it means the whole world to that person, as it were.” the whole world when we do it to you,” said Owinje.

It's not only the students who study in the past who affect the lives of young people, they live, they breathe, it's a proof of the importance of not letting go of dreams, no matter where you come from, and no matter how far it is to reach them. it seems.

Photos by Giants of Africa.