Manal Cali
Manal Cali is a Somali women's basketball player who has played for the women's national team.Career
Manal Cali was born in Somalia on 2 February 1986 and has three brothers and three sisters. She was educated in the United Kingdom at the Northampton School for Girls. Cali attended Tallahassee Community College in the United States and played 13 games for their women's basketball team in the 2006-07 season of the National Junior College Athletic Association's Division I. In her first season she scored eight field goals. She played 28 times for Tallahassee again in the 2007-08 season and holds the college's 9th highest career all-time field goal percentage.
Cali attended the University of Montevallo where she studied for a degree with a major in sociology and a minor in German. She played for the Montevallo Falcons basketball team. In the 2008–09 season she played in 28 games, averaging 5.9 points and having the best free throw percentage in the team. She also played in the 2009-10 season. She was eligible for the Women's National Basketball Association draft of 2008 but was not selected.
Cali played for the Somalia women's national basketball team in their first ever match, a 90–24 loss to the Egypt women's national basketball team in the Pan Arab Games at Doha on 8 December 2011. She played as a center or power forward and wore number 15. The Somali team trains at the Mogadishu Police Academy. Despite being the second most popular sport in Somalia women's participation in basketball is opposed by some. The women must travel to their training in burkas, playing their games in tracksuits with towels covering their heads. The team has received death threats from Islamic extremist group Al-Shabab. Cali received an award at an event in London organised by the Somali Federation of Sports Associations for her role in the team.
Cali later returned to the United Kingdom and played for Northants Lighting in the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons of the English Women's Basketball League Division 2 North Conference. The 2014-15 season was the clubs first in competition.
