How Liz Mills is trying to smash basketball's glass ceiling

The trailblazing coach has enjoyed unprecedented success in Africa, and has her sights set on overturning the gender imbalance in coaching ranks.

Credit: FIBA

Liz Mills wants to make history.

And why not? She already has, several times – she was the first woman to be head coach of a men’s national team at a FIBA continental championship and the first woman to coach a men’s team in Basketball Africa League (BAL). There are plenty of other firsts on her CV, like leading the Kenyan men’s team to a dramatic first ever win over African powerhouse Angola. 

Now, she’s back in Australia, enjoying some downtime and weighing up her next move. 

“I’ve got every intention of heading back to Africa and coaching in the BAL next season,” she tells The Pick and Roll. “Whether that’s either returning to ABC [Fighters, the Ivorian team she coached last year], or looking at some new teams that have approached me since the end of the season and that are a viable option of going all the way to the title.”

In the short term, she’s thinking about the next stop on what has already been a productive and trailblazing journey of coaching in Africa.

In the long term, she wants to smash the glass ceiling for the next generation of women coaches and pave the way for opportunities for women to lead teams, both in women’s and men’s basketball.