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Standing at 5’11”, she tells PUNCH Sports Extra of the unexpected path that led to her falling in love with basketball—a journey inspired by courage and persistence and marked by family challenges and eventual triumphs.

“I was 13 when I started playing basketball. I was in JSS1,” Samuel said.

“How I started playing was a funny one because I wasn’t even interested in the game. I saw some of my classmates and friends on the basketball court after school, trying to throw the ball into the net. For some reason, it was fun to them, even though they didn’t know the rules. They invited me to join them, but I refused because I didn’t want to get injured, and I was supposed to be on my way home.”

For a while, Samuel simply observed from the sidelines, intrigued but hesitant. Yet, the pull of the game became irresistible. “I decided to join one day, knowing fully well that I was going to be in trouble for not telling my parents before staying back for practice. But I didn’t want to be left out of the fun.

“Although I didn’t take the game seriously at first, just for the fun of it,” she added.

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