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By: Peter Akinbo.
Growing up in a sports-loving family, 17-year-old Fortunate Emechete tried her hand and feet at different sports and was good at them, but she never really felt like she had found the sport for her until she started playing basketball.
Emechete’s story begins in Ekiti State, where she was born to parents from Delta State and grew up in Daillimore Street, Ado-Ekiti.
She told PUNCH Sports Extra about her foray into athletics, judo, taekwondo and even cricket.
However, her life took a turn when a basketball coach spotted her potential when she was 15.
“Basically, I had been involved in a lot of sports because my mum would take me and my three sisters to the stadium in Ekiti, so that was how my life in sports started. I was running, I was into track, then from track I had gone to judo when a coach saw me and he was like ‘you look tall and you are going to grow, you should play basketball’ but then I didn’t take it seriously.
“This was two and a half years ago. I eventually joined him and that was how I started basketball. Then I found that I was comfortable because I even played volleyball, judo, taekwondo, I did everything but when I did this (the sports) for like one week, there would be something that would make me move away but when I got to basketball I couldn’t move,” she said.
Her journey was not without its challenges, though.
When she received a basketball scholarship to school in Lagos, her father was initially hesitant about allowing her leave, citing concerns about the bustling city. However, after her mother’s insistence and persuasion, he eventually relented.
“My family has always supported sports until it came to travelling to Lagos. My dad believed that Lagos was too big for me to go to all by myself. Eventually my mom had to talk to him before he could let go and that’s how I went for the second one,” she told PUNCH Sports Extra.
“It took six weeks because school had resumed when he said he was not going to allow me to go. I said I was not going to go to school so I stayed at home for about six weeks into the term before he eventually gave in. I stayed in the hostel of the school when I went. The Principal of Topfield Secondary School, Mr Agbolade Okansaya, had boys and girls on scholarships staying in a big house with him and his family.”
June 20, Emechete landed in the United States, where she currently attends Green Forest Christian Academy in Decatur, Georgia.
“So, I had met the coach of Green Forest through coach Charles then I think after talking to him for like the first day or two days, I started my visa applications to get into the academy.
“I was not denied but it was not accepted, they kept referring me back and forth, to the school and to the Passport Office also. After a week, the embassy called me again, and it was found out that someone else had used my identity to travel to the US so they could not accept my application until they found out who that person was.
“Then one day, the embassy called me that they were giving me a last chance, that I should come with my passport and I went and dropped it. At this point, I had gone there like seven times and I was about to give up. May 3, they called me that I should come and pick up my passport and when I did, I saw a visa inside.”
Her scholarship was based not only on her basketball skills but also on her excellent academic performance, emphasising the importance of education in sports.
“First of all they liked the way I played, they had seen videos of me play. Back in Nigeria, I used to be like point-guard and shooting-guard so when they saw the videos, they asked for my transcript and they saw that my results were very good, because the way they act over here (US) it’s education before basketball, so, that was the main reason they picked me. It was because I was a scholar and had a good transcript,” the guard said.
In the United States, Emechete plays for the Celtics, a prominent basketball team. Her ability to play multiple positions, including point and shooting guard, makes her a valuable asset to her teams.
Adapting to life in the United States has been a positive experience for Emechete. While adjusting to the time difference and foods posed some challenges, she has embraced the opportunity to explore new culinary experiences.
She finds the cultural transition manageable and is grateful for the chance to play the sport she loves at a higher level saying, “It wasn’t really that hard to adapt, the only thing that I had to adapt to was the time difference. I just found myself awake at night and couldn’t sleep. For the food, it’s still kind of a bit hard because I don’t really eat anything that has cheese in it and that’s like their main food over here but every other thing is good and I am adapting to the food too.”
Her role models are Los Angeles Sparks forwards, the Ogwunmike sisters, Nneka and Chinenye, who play in the WNBA in America.
“It’s rare to see two Nigerian sisters strive to get to the WNBA and also be on the same team and are both recognised. It takes a lot of hard work to get there and that’s what I like about them, it’s not just one person, it’s two,” Emechete said.
Founder of Raptors Academy, coach Charles Ibeziako, who trained her in Lagos and helped secure her move overseas told PUNCH Sports Extra that Emechete’s potential was visible right from when he first spotted her.
“If there is a person that will make something happen in basketball, I can usually tell within two or three months, and in Fortunate’s case, I knew in a couple of weeks. She has a lot of talent but talent is not everything, I could see that she was very consistent and that is the most important thing for someone that wants to be a superstar in any sport.
“She is in America now, so she has to work really hard, she has taken many steps along her way and the next step is to finally shine and I have faith in her ability to achieve something special,” he said.