Clara Koranga: In the footsteps of Koranga's basketball greats
Reading Time: 2min | Wed. 04.01.23. | 16:22
Clara Koronga, who comes from a sporty family, is eager to make a mark in basketball
As early as six years, Clara Koranga, was already exposed to basketball, but it was not until class six when she started giving the game a serious thought.
"I would follow my older siblings to training just to have a touch of the ball; try dribbling, shooting the ball, and generally learn the game. I wanted to have a feel of what they were doing. I decided to take basketball as a sport in class six, that's when I started training."
Now 19, and with high school cleared, Clara, who plays for Nakuru-based Swish Women Basketball team as a rearguard, appears set to continue the rich sporting legacy of the Koranga family. With siblings like Kenya Morans forward Ariel Okal and US-based Felmas Koranga, Clara is never short of the inspiration to scale the heights.
Sports run deep in the Koranga family. The father Elijah Koranga played for the defunct Scarlet FC and Harambee Stars, while the mother Evelyn Koranga played netball in her heydays.
"Having siblings like Okal and Felmas is great because they're people who have achieved something in basketball and I feel motivated by them. As for Felmas, she's my role model, and I really yearn to be like her someday. I push myself and work very hard so that I can scale the heights she has reached."
To balance both books and talent, the alumni of Nyabururu Girls High School and Manengai High School had to make a lot of sacrifices especially in his final year.
"I started playing for Swish when I was in form four, that's when the team was formed. As expected, it was challenging because I was a candidate then so I had to study and at the same time commit myself to training and at least be there for weekend games."
Formed in 2022, Swish Women Basketball team is a project of Okal and Felmas whose main aim is to give back to the society and at the same time give a platform to expose the local talent.
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"We had no Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) lady's club in Nakuru so Swish was formed to bridge that gap."
Clara is yet to don the national team colors, but she has big ambitions. "We all have dreams and big ambitions, but for me my greatest ambition is to motivate a soul somewhere, a youngster somewhere…someday."
