Still I rise: Jama Bin-Edward

On January 15, 2020, Jama Bin-Edward completely tore her ACL, as well as partially tore her MCL and LCL. It was an innocuous play, slipping when receiving a pass, something she'd done hundreds of times in the season and thousands of times in her lifetime. It also occurred just before the COVID-19 pandemic delayed non-essential surgeries, meaning her rehab would be pushed back months, then conducted virtually. And if that wasn't enough, the injury happened in Waterloo, her hometown.

There's a lot of self-doubt that goes into recovering from an injury of that magnitude. Clearing both the physical and mental hurdles of an injury represents perhaps the biggest challenge of an athlete's career. For Bin-Edward, her recovery was predicated on a simple mantra: "Be the best at getting better."

The saying comes from her head coach, Carly Clarke, whose message resonated with Bin-Edward. It gave her something small that she could do everyday in her recovery. In the lead up to her surgery, delayed until August of 2020, Bin-Edward did the small things right. Following her surgery she continued to do the best she could as rehab sessions took place over Zoom, hopeful that she could return for the latter half of her final season.

On April 3, 2022, Bin-Edward became a national champion. She had 12 points in 30 minutes during a 70-48 win over Winnipeg to claim U SPORTS gold. Despite the lopsided scoreline, the game represented an incredible comeback. Bin-Edward had played her first game in return from injury just 128 days prior, where she had two points in 13 minutes against Ontario Tech. The final game in Bin-Edward's playing career was a national championship, a storybook ending for any athlete. But the real story of Bin-Edward's career is not about winning a national championship as part of a perfect 21-0 season, or winning the national championship tournament MVP, it's about overcoming adversity, leadership and being "the best at getting better".

In her life after her playing days, Bin-Edward has still been using the lessons basketball taught her. As a student success navigator at TMU, part of her job is instilling those lessons in the students she helps. The leadership she's gained from her time on the court, allows her to help others be their best.

"Being able to know your strengths as well as the people around you, their strengths and weaknesses, helps me in my team and also when I'm meeting one on one with students," said Bin-Edward on the lessons of leadership learned in the gym.

"Where do you think you actually excel? What are some things you need to work on? Just being able to have candid conversations, that's something you do a lot when you're playing on a team in general."

The other thing Bin-Edward took away from basketball was a new understanding of self-confidence and what she was capable of. To come back from essentially a complete tear of the knee requires self-belief that comes from within and an understanding that tomorrow will be better than yesterday.

"Confidence comes from practice, and it comes from your knowledge and learning."

In speaking with Bin-Edward it's clear that she's been reflective on what basketball has given her and helped teach her. Every lesson learned is a story from her time on the court. Yet despite all that the game taught her, Bin-Edward never forgot the reason she started playing in the first place. It gave her an excuse to hang out with friends.

"When you put too much weight into basketball it can mean a lot of different things but to me it was always about having fun with the people I'm friends with."

It's this grounded approach to the game that helped Bin-Edward stay positive throughout her injury, the waiting game for surgery, and the eventual physical rehab. Every step in her recovery process was one step closer to another game with friends. On April 3, 2022 at the end of her rehab process, Bin-Edward was just playing with friends again - it just so happened that the game was for the U SPORTS national championship.

A national championship is an incredible team achievement. For Bin-Edward, it was a moment she wasn't sure would happen for a multitude of reasons. In addition to the injury which kept her out until late-November, the season was paused for COVID-19 precautions in January. It was a crushing announcement for Bin-Edward, who had done everything right in her comeback but suddenly wasn't sure if all that work would even matter.

When the season resumed, and the women's basketball team capped off their perfect season, Bin-Edward was very reflective of what that moment meant for her on a personal level.

"It just showed that you should never give up. For me, (the national championship) shows that it matters when you put in the work that nobody else sees," said Bin-Edward.

Jama Bin-Edward Spotlight Celebration — *^{Bin-Edward celebrates with Kaillie Hall at the OUA championship. Photo by Jojo Qian.}*

Nowadays, Bin-Edward's work is exclusively behind the scenes, giving back to her school community. In addition to her role as a student success navigator, she also helps out with this iteration of the Bold women's basketball team, staying involved with the team where she built so many relationships. She says the familiarity with the team and school helps her in both roles, allowing her to pass on the lessons she's learned to a new generation of young women wearing the blue and gold.

As a Black former student-athlete, Bin-Edward is also an advocate for the university's Black Excellence Initiatives. She's proud of the university's program with the OUA to provide scholarships to Black and racialized students, something she hopes will allow them to learn the same lessons she has through sports. The Anti-Black Racism committee, created during the pandemic which she was involved in during her time as a student-athlete, allowed her to further explore her role as a Black activist within her community, and present her unique perspective.

"It gives us a really good opportunity to level that playing field. You can see the university is taking steps to make racialized voices heard."

Bin-Edward's path to where she is today was never a straight line. Her story is not unlike many other young Black women and girls and student-athletes, who must fight for every inch and be mindful of the lessons they've learned through years of hard work. And once done with their playing days, they pass on their knowledge to the next generation of leaders to help continue making space for people like them.

People like Jama Bin-Edward will always rise.

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Players Mentioned

#14 Kaillie Hall: G; 5' 9"; 4

Players Mentioned

#14 Kaillie Hall
: 5' 9"; 4
: G

Players Mentioned

#14 Kaillie Hall

Players Mentioned

#14 Kaillie Hall