Somali-American basketball player and youth mentor Jamad Fiin has made a notable impact in Kenya following her recent visit, where she hosted basketball clinics aimed at empowering young girls through sport, confidence building and life skills development.
Fiin, the founder of Jamad Basketball Camps, held a basketball clinic in Nairobi in partnership with local institutions, marking a significant expansion of her grassroots sports initiative into East Africa.
The Nairobi clinic, hosted at SABIS® International School Runda, brought together young female players for hands-on training sessions that focused on basketball fundamentals, teamwork and leadership.
The programme was supported by local partners, including the Federation of African Basketball Associations (FIBA Africa/FEBA), underscoring the growing interest in structured youth basketball development in Kenya.
Jamad Fiin, who played college basketball at Emmanuel College in Boston and has represented the Somali Women’s National Basketball Team, has built her post-playing career around mentorship and advocacy for girls in sports.
Her Kenya visit forms part of a broader international outreach by Jamad Basketball Camps, an initiative designed to provide safe and inclusive spaces for girls to learn basketball while developing self-belief and discipline.
The camps place particular emphasis on girls from underrepresented communities, including Muslim and African girls, who often face cultural or structural obstacles to participating in organised sports.
During the Nairobi sessions, participants were taken through drills covering ball handling, shooting, footwork and defensive play.
Beyond technical skills, the clinics also incorporated conversations around self-confidence, goal-setting and resilience.
Fiin’s work extends beyond the basketball court. Through Jamad Basketball Camps, she advocates for sports as a tool for social change, particularly in communities where girls’ participation in athletics is limited by social expectations.
Her programmes aim to challenge these norms by demonstrating that sports can coexist with cultural identity and education.
While Jamad Basketball Camps operates primarily in the United States, the Nairobi clinic reflects the initiative’s growing international footprint.
Kenya joins a list of countries where Fiin has sought to create impact by collaborating with schools and local organisations to reach young players.
For Kenya, where women’s basketball continues to fight for visibility and resources, such engagements are seen as a boost to grassroots development.
Organisers and local partners expressed optimism that the engagement would inspire continued participation among the girls and encourage further collaborations aimed at nurturing female basketball talent.