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Not many people would have had the nerve to do it, but for Liz Mills (MEd '14), it was absolutely in character.

She was visiting Zambia in 2011 with her twin sister, Vic. It was a return trip for both of them after they鈥檇 fallen in love with the country during a world tour they鈥檇 done after Liz graduated from the University of Sydney.

Being a keen player of netball and basketball herself, and also a coach of junior reps and women鈥檚 basketball teams since she was 17, Mills went to see a preseason game of the Zambian men鈥檚 national Super League.

By the end of the game, the 24-year-old Mills, who had never coached a male team, approached the president of one of the clubs and asked to coach his team. Mills can see how that might appear brazen or egotistical, but for her, a clear-headed strategic thinker, it was based on a calculation.

鈥淎ustralia is the second or third best country - male, female juniors - in the world of basketball,鈥� she notes. 鈥淲e鈥檝e actually had some of the best coaching development anywhere, pioneering a lot of the frameworks that are now used by other countries.鈥�

In other words, Mills felt, as an Australian, she would be seen as having something of substance to offer. It also helped that she was asking this of Zambians, 鈥淭hey鈥檙e really welcoming and gentle people. It鈥檚 kind of their culture.鈥�

No doubt impressed by Mills鈥檚 confidence and passion for the game, the club president agreed to let her coach his team for an hour. That hour for Mills, has turned into a 10-year career in African men鈥檚 basketball boosted by early success when the low-ranked Zambian team she was coaching won the national championship that season.

Her greatest triumph though, came this year as coach of the Kenyan men鈥檚 team. Kenya went up against eleven-time champions, Angola, for a place in the AfroBasket 2021 competition; and they won convincingly, putting Kenya in the African championship for the first time since 1993. The Kenyan people erupted in ecstatic celebrations.

The triumphs and trials of being a coach

For Mills, each success is confirmation that her particular approach to coaching gets results, that approach being to build relationships within the team.

鈥淚t starts by understanding how each of them ticks, what kind of people they are off the court,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 honest conversations with individuals and with the team as a whole. If everyone understands what they bring to the team, we can move towards a goal as a cohesive unit.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 mind losing someone if that鈥檚 the way to get the team dynamic right. For me, it鈥檚 character over skillset every time.鈥�

Considering her pan-African, trail-blazing career in basketball, it might be a surprise that Mills grew up on Sydney鈥檚 sedate north shore. Her parents both have backgrounds in accountancy and actively encouraged their three girls to explore all their interests (鈥淚 played flute for a while, then decided to be cool, so I moved to the saxophone.鈥�), though sport became central.

鈥淥ur parents came to every, single game we played. Other parents didn鈥檛 do that. We were really lucky,鈥� says Mills.

Since her success with Zambia, Mills has coached senior men's club teams, men's national university teams and men's senior national teams across the African continent. She has also become an international basketball consultant and promoted basketball analytics in the African competition which has helped enhance strategy and improve performance generally.

Allowing that African basketball isn鈥檛 the massive money-machine that operates in the US, Mills has maintained a parallel Australian corporate career, returning to Africa when basketball competitions demand and COVID allows. At times, this has seen her doing two jobs in two time zones and operating on four hours sleep a night.

As well, she is always working to improve herself, which led her to do a Master of Education (Sports Coaching) at the University of Sydney in 2013. Usually a two-year course, Mills had to get back to Africa for 2014, so crammed her course into just one year.

鈥淚t was an intense but very rewarding program, and great for networking,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd it wasn鈥檛 all basketball coaches, which really opened up my mind. I could see ways that I could use what I was learning in my non-coaching work.鈥�

Breaking through the glass ceiling

Reading previous articles profiling Mills, it is easy to see how outspoken she is about Australian sport and sports federations. This confidence in speaking truth to power comes from an obvious reality.

鈥淚 brought myself to where I am,鈥� she says. 鈥淣o one helped me to do what I鈥檝e done, so what can anyone do to me?鈥�

One subject she visits regularly as both a victim and as a harbinger of change, is that women in Australia are routinely fenced out of the male-dominated world of sports coaching; coaching being a career, that on the face of it, could be thought of as gender neutral.

鈥淭here鈥檚 not much physical activity required of a coach,鈥� she notes. 鈥淵ou might get a ball on the rebound and have to pass it, but not much else. All a coach really needs is a brain that works.鈥�

Still, female coaches are relatively few in number, with Mills noting that the Australian swimming team for Tokyo is about half women but has no female coaches. Mills sees a boys' club at work.

鈥淚t鈥檚 guys helping each other up the ladder,鈥� she says matter-of-factly. 鈥淎nd there鈥檚 this idea that women can only coach juniors or other women. I have huge respect for junior coaches, but when I came back to Australia, after coaching men鈥檚 teams, I went back to my club and they offered me an under-14 boys team.鈥�

There are signs things might be changing with Basketball Australia setting up the Elite Female Coaching Advancement Program. Mills has been invited to take part.

Though Mills feels Africa has given her opportunities that would not have come her way in Australia, Africa has not been all smooth sailing either. On court, she has been mistaken for a water girl, shooed away from her own coach鈥檚 chair, and seen opposing players and managers obviously talking her down.

Unfazed, she went a perhaps provocative step further, by taking to wearing black leather boots on court, an idea inspired by the female coaches of Australia鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Basketball League who have pointedly worn power suits and high heels.

鈥淧eople are very offended by my boots sometimes and I鈥檓 told I can鈥檛 wear them in tournaments, which is ridiculous,鈥� says Mills, obviously enjoying the ruffling of feathers. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e become my signature now because they project a sense of authority; they make a real boss statement.

鈥淭hat said, they鈥檙e also easy to walk around in.鈥�

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