N'Garsanet becomes first former AfroBasket player to coach a national team in Africa
ABIDJAN (Cote d'Ivoire) - History has been made as Christelle N'Garsanet becomes the first Africa-born former female player named head coach of a national team on the continent.
ABIDJAN (Cote d'Ivoire) - History has been made as Christelle N'Garsanet becomes the first Africa-born former female player named head coach of a national team on the continent.
Cote d'Ivoire Basketball Federation (FIBB) announced the breakthrough development early this week.
The 37-year-old has replaced her countryman Alpha Mane, who coached the Ivoirians at last year's FIBA Women's AfroBasket in Dakar, Senegal.
N'Garsanet has represented her country at youth continental tournaments before suiting up for the 'Elephants' at two FIBA Women's AfroBasket editions in 2009 and 2011 respectively.
Christelle N'Garsanet helped Cote d'Ivoire to a fourth-place finish at FIBA Women's AfroBasket 2009
After a brief professional career in Europe, the Abidjan native started her coaching career. She currently serves as an assistant coach at the Southern Illinois University, a NCCAA Division 1 US college.
There is a number of former African international female players who currently serve or have done so as assistant coaches to their national teams, namely Deolinda Ngulela (Mozambique), Jaqueline Francisco (Angola), Hamchetou Maiga (Mali), Shola Ogunade Shomala (Nigeria), but N'Garsanet becomes a pioneer in that aspect.
Last year Natosha Cummings-Price became the first non-African-born at the helm of a national team.
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The American led Cameroon to an eighth-place finish at the African Championship.
According to the FIBB, N'Garsanet looks forward to "bringing her expertise to her country" is now a reality.
"It would be a source of pride for me to find myself on the sidelines of one of the national teams of Côte d'Ivoire," she is quoted as saying.
FIBB Chairman Mahama Coulibaly told FIBA.basketball that, "Our goal in the appointments is to further the talent potentials of the country and give the required training at all levels such that will bring all involved in the game to the same point."
"We hope that with the appointment of Christelle, Cote d’Ivoire will produce potential WNBA players that would make us proud and also compete at the highest level."
Cote d'Ivoire currently sit in eighth place in Africa on the FIBA World Rankings.
FIBA