Nyadiew's Future Starts with Freedom
- Ann Odong
- May 1
- 6 min read
Season One of [un]written focuses on the rise of sportswomen with African ancestry who are Kuangazia Kesho "Illuminating tomorrow". They are the first generation of African Australians trailblazing in their fields and showing many from their communities what is possible.
Before there were courts and crowds, there was freedom. The kind found in backyards and busy kitchens, in the rooms where Nyadiew Puoch first learned to move in her own way. In the middle of a house in Cranbourne East teeming with siblings, motion, and rhythm of a bouncing ball.
There were seven of them, resulting in a symphony of childhood hums, and familial challenges all watched over by Nyakong, a single mother from South Sudan.
Nyakong held the family together with love, strength and discipline. A resilient, independent woman who crossed oceans with little more than her faith and her children. Nyadiew’s mother is both anchor and engine.
“My Mum, she's really strong with everything that she has done on her own. She moved across the world on her own,” she says, her voice full of reverence. “It’s hard being a single mother and even harder when you are entering a world that is so different from what you left.”
“She is an independent lady who has done so many things on her own. She put that experience into us, to become strong independent women like she is.
“I think it made it easier for us to go out into the world where we look different and we're not the majority. To have the ability to be comfortable in who we are because she gave that to us.”
“She looked after herself from a young age, and then she looked after all of us. She made us strong. She gave us freedom.”
In a single sentence, Nyadiew sums up what so many daughters of migrants carry: pride, pressure, and purpose.
“Doing what I’m doing today is just my way of giving back, of showing her what it means.”
That streak of independence was evident with Nyadiew’s first handling of the ball. Her older brothers moved through the world with the type of confidence she admired. Naturally, she followed.
"They were teasingly telling me I couldn't do it because I'm not good enough and all this," she laughed. “From then I just fell in love.”
There’s determination evident in the re-telling. Just a young girl in Melbourne, hooping on bitumen because it felt like home. It lit something up.
And maybe that’s the point. It’s never just the game but the various places where you find home.
It’s what can be unlocked - freedom, belonging, a space to be entirely, unapologetically yourself.
“I could go on and just be free and just play ball,” she remembers. “I didn’t have to change who I was. Being in the basketball world made me feel like it was perfect thing for me.”
Not changing who you are. It’s a phrase that echoes long after she says it.
Because for a South Sudanese Australian kid growing up as one of the first wave from her background, where she didn’t always see herself reflected, the ability to be seen as she is was a kind of quiet revolution.
“I think basketball helped me in such a way,” she says, reflecting on those early years. “Especially going to school, being different. People loved me because I was so good at this thing, so I was proud, because I made myself proud.” she grins.
There’s a purity in how she talks about the game. It’s not performative. Not tactical. Just honest. She loves this thing with a kind of delight that draws you in too.
Freedom. That’s what kept her coming back. Not trophies. Not titles. Just the feeling of letting go.
And in that space, she started to grow as a player and as a person. For Nyadiew it means building a life around happiness and connection. These are the spaces, even this early in her career, she has learned to protect.
“I always put myself in situations where I could be myself and be happy,” she considers. “I like to know when I go to basketball, I can also be myself.”
“I’ve been at clubs where I didn’t feel loved. I didn’t feel like I belonged. Where I play basketball, the most important for me is to be loved and be able to be in that community where people like me for who I am.
“When you're happy and you know you love what you're doing, you perform really well, you try to give back to everybody. I'm now feeling that at [UC] Capital.
“My teammates helped me be get better and all my coaches support me. I'm happy in my workplace and then I go back home and I'm happy obviously with my family. It’s a good balance.”
Still, she doesn’t pretend it’s all smooth sailing. It has all come as fast and furious as the action in the game she loves. Silver at the FIBA U-19 World Cup at 17. WNBL champion and WNBA draftee at 19. And now on the cusp of making her Opals debut at 20.
All of this has meant that the lessons of independence and strength instilled from her mother is coming to the fore but there are new teachings being amassed.
“I’m learning that it’s okay not to be perfect,” she says contemplatively. “There’s so much going on in your mind sometimes but that’s just part of what I’m learning right now.”
“Athletes really invest a lot in the mental side of the game. You have to. Because when you’re happy and you love what you’re doing, you play better. You give more to everyone around you. I’m terrible at that balance but I am getting better at recognising it.”
“Sometimes it means making the most of the time away from the court. I love being with my family, my friends all the time because it's really calming. I like colouring, baking with friends and when there’s a beach around, I like to go. Just giving myself the permission to take a re-charge.
“There is also a need to make sure you are mentally safe. I think there's times when people think, "Oh yes, I'm okay" but I'm actually not. There's so much in my mind about changes that I have going on. I am learning that I'm not always going to be perfect all the time.”
It’s that internal work - grace to forgive herself, to move on from a missed layup - that has become just as important as anything on the court.
And it’s not just personal. She knows now that other people are watching. Following in her footsteps. Younger sister Manuela has just been selected for the Australian Gems to play in the FIBA U-19 Women's Basketball World Cup later this year.
“I go home and my cousins text me and say they want to be like me,” she says. “It’s cool.”
There’s a quiet pause.
“Especially in the Australian program it hasn’t been as common for girls like us to be in there. So, when I am there, I know it means something.”
The rise of Australian players with African heritage in basketball isn’t lost on her. The boys broke through first with Thon, Majok, Duop, Sunday, Deng.
Now, the girls are creating their path. Ezi. Nyadiew. And now Manny.
All three from Melbourne. Carving out something new.
“It’s different,” she says again, softly. “But it’s good. I don’t really sit there and reflect on it. I just try to keep going.”
“I guess for me if how I play and how I show up on the court can give them a confidence to come in and jump board and play basketball, then I am happy.”
And maybe that’s the point. Her impact doesn’t live in declarations or headlines. It lives in the unobtrusive assurance of someone who knows who they are. Someone who shows up. Someone who loves the game.
Nyadiew’s story isn’t about chasing legacy. At least not yet.
It’s about living fully - on and off the court. About loving family hard and working harder. About feeling different and choosing to stay the course anyway. About walking into unfamiliar rooms and projecting an aura that you have always belonged, so the next person feels they belong too.
The full story of Nyadiew is only just beginning to unfold.
Written by Ann Odong
Ann is a Ugandan-Australian storyteller, strategist, and advocate who has spent the past 20 years championing the voices of women in football and culturally diverse communities across the world.
The [female] athlete project is Australia's fastest growing women's sports platform, spotlighting the stories and achievements of women in sport. Listen to the weekly podcast the wrap on apple or spotify, or sign up to our weekly newsletter here.
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