BASKETBALL – BAHRAINI basketball star Aya Kamali has become the second women’s national team player in as many months to sign for a US-based school to compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
Kamali was announced to have signed on as a student-athlete with North Carolina-based Wingate University, which participates in NCAA Division Two sports as members of the South Atlantic Conference.
Wingate’s women’s basketball team confirmed Kamali’s joining, describing the crafty 17-year-old guard as “dynamic” and “known for her leadership, work ethic, relentless drive, and her three-pointers”, they posted on social media.
“Aya always brings the intensity on both ends of the floor and a team-fighting mentality,” the post added. “Her commitment refers to her character, growth, and pursuit of excellence.”
Kamali is one of the kingdom’s top women’s basketball players. She has won multiple medals at various levels for Bahrain both in five-on-five and 3x3 basketball.
The Bahrain Basketball Association (BBA) lauded Kamali’s joining Wingate as a new milestone for the game in the kingdom and confirming the growing presence of Bahraini basketball on the international arena.
The BBA noted that the development embodies the successes achieved by national talent development programmes, reflecting the amount of support Bahraini sport has received and the ambitious vision that aims to empower young women and men and prepare opportunities for them to reach the highest levels of competition and professionalism.
Kamali’s signing with Wingate follows the announcement just last month of her long-time women’s national team backcourt partner Bayan Salman as a student-athlete at South Carolina-based Charleston Southern University (CSU).
Salman’s commitment to CSU, which competes in the NCAA Division One’s Big South Conference, made her the first-ever women’s player from the kingdom – and likely the entire GCC – to achieve the opportunity.
Both Kamali and Salman were most recently members of Bahrain’s national team that won the gold medals in women’s 3x3 basketball at the fourth GCC Games in Doha, Qatar last May.
They also helped the kingdom secure the Gulf Basketball Association under-21 3x3 title at home in November of last year.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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