Sarah Zeinab Chan is a South Sudanese former professional basketball player and lead scout in Africa for the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Toronto Raptors, who grew up as a refugee in Kenya. [1] She is the first woman to scout for an NBA team in Africa. [2] [3] She is also the founder of Home At Home/Apediet Foundation, a non-governmental organization that combats child marriage and advocates sports and education for girls. [2] In 2022, Chan was named to the BBC 100 Women list. [4]
Chan grew up in Khartoum, Sudan, during the second Sudanese Civil War. [2] She lived with her parents, two older brothers and younger sister alongside other families in a homestead that was "half-mud and half-brick". [5] [6] She speaks English, Swahili, Arabic, and Dinka. [6]
In August 1998, her family fled to Nairobi, Kenya, where her parents received an academic sponsorship to study theology, as well as tuition for Sarah and her sister's education. [6] [7] Chan played sports for the first time in 2004 at Laiser Hill High School, where she quickly excelled in basketball. [6]
In 2007, she moved to the US, and attended Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, on a basketball scholarship. [6] [4] There, she studied political science and history, and played on the school's National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) program. [6] After playing professionally for a few years in Europe and Africa, she returned to Nairobi, where she pursued a master's degree in peace and conflict studies at United States International University Africa. [6]
Standing at 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) tall, [8] Chan played the forward position. [9] As a senior, she was named to the NAIA all-tournament team and a first-team NAIA All-American. [10] Over four seasons at Union University, she scored 1,892 points and had 1,112 rebounds. [6]
She tried out for the Women's National Basketball Association team Indiana Fever, but was not selected. [6]
Chan continued playing basketball professionally in Spain and Portugal, and also played for clubs in Tunisia, Angola, and Mozambique. [7] She subsequently returned to Kenya, where she played for the United States International University Africa. [7] Chan was the top scorer and rebounder, and was in the 2015 FIBA Africa Women's Champions Cup All-Star Five, [7] [11] and also competed in the 2017 FIBA Africa Women's Clubs Champions Cup. [6]
While coaching at a Giants of Africa basketball camp in Kenya in 2017, she was discovered by Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri, [6] who followed her career and later hired her as a scout and basketball development associate. [1] As the lead scout, Chan travels throughout Africa recruiting talent for the Raptors. [1] She has also persuaded Ujiri to hold Giants of Africa camps in Juba, South Sudan, and Mogadishu, Somalia, to offer girls the opportunity to try basketball. [6]
Chan started her charity, the Home At Home/Apediet Foundation, to provide mentoring to girls, prevent child marriage, and promote education and sports. [2] It is a national non-governmental organization named after her mother. [5]