Joining the GB 100 Cap Club – With Azania Stewart – Ep. 41

In Episode 41 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we got the chance to sit down with Great Britain star Azania Stewart ahead of the most recent qualifying window where Stewart gained her 100th cap as she has decided to step away from the game – which she revealed to us in this interview.

The 29 year old came up through the Haringey Angels programme, before departing for the US at age 16. An impressive High School career followed, before ending up at Florida, where an impressive four year career saw the 6’4″ centre ranked no.3 all time in the programme’s record book for blocked shots (205), and fifth all time in field goal percentage (54.4%), whilst going to the NCAA tournament in her Freshman and Senior years; both times losing to the eventual champions in the second round.

She graduated in 2012, playing in the London Olympics that summer, having made her GB Senior debut in 2009 and has since gone on to 101 caps for her country, becoming a centre-piece to the squad with her leadership and energy, whilst forging herself a stable professional career on the continent.

Post-2012 she has had a successful professional career that has seen her play in Spain, England (briefly) Australia, Hungary, and Latvia this past season – where she won two titles domestically and played EuroCup with TTT Riga. ‘Z’ as she is known, also represented England at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year, winning a silver medal.

In this 80 minute interview – recorded on Saturday November 10th – hear from Azania on:

• Why she has decided to retire
• Her GB career, the highs and the lows
• Whether she feels overlooked or under-appreciated as a GB veteran
• How she was able to play at the Commonwealth Games despite not having it written in her contract
• Winning a Silver medal at the Commonwealth Games
• Starting out playing netball, before making the switch to basketball
• Her early experiences of basketball with Haringey Angels
• Being very driven and motivated as a young player
• How her move to the US first came about
• Her transition to moving to the US, homesickness, and the basketball
• Playing for a nationally ranked high school
• Going to Florida and her experience as a Gator
• Starting at the London 2012 Olympics
• The Olympic experience, and what was on offer to athletes in the village
• GB’s battles for funding and media coverage
• How she ended up falling in love with the game
• When she realised her mindset has the ability to impact her teammates and performance
• Being a pro in Europe and Australia
• Advice she would give to younger female players who want to get to where she has been
• What she wants her legacy to be
• And much, much more!

As always, I’d love to get your feedback, come back after you’ve listened and lets get some discussion going in the comments.

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