After a super 20-years in the sport, the French forward is hanging up her game shoes.
TARBES (France) – The epitome of an ultimate warrior on the court, Endy Miyem has called time her amazing career and revealed the extent and depth of love she still feels for her time spent wearing a national team jersey.
Spanning almost two decades, the veteran has been reflecting her exploits on the FIBA international stage with France and explained how balling in her nation’s colors has helped her maintain her passion for the game.
“It was really important,” she told basketeurope.com
“I talked about it with some of my teammates who said, ‘It’s crazy that you’ve played until 36—almost 37 now. I don’t think I could have done that.’ And I told them that playing that long wasn’t necessarily the plan, but what kept me going was the French national team.
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When I was playing abroad, coming back to the French team was my breath of fresh air
“It’s something special. It’s even bigger than club basketball. You’re representing your country, wearing the ‘France’ jersey on your back, and you live through incredible emotions and experiences. You feel like you want to raise your country’s flag as high as possible.” She continued: “That’s what kept me going every time. When I was playing abroad, coming back to the French team was my breath of fresh air. It was kind of the carrot that kept me going: ‘Even when things are tough, don’t worry—there’s still the national team.’
“Everything I did was because of Les Bleues. I don’t want to diminish the moments I had with clubs, but I really think that if I hadn’t had the national team, or if it had ended earlier, I probably wouldn’t have played as long.” Having excelled at junior level, Miyem’s first major tournament was the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket in 2009 and she walked away with gold. To this day it remains the last time that France secured the coveted silverware.
