Jamil Abiad: Head Coach | Valur Körfubolti Women’s Basketball Club

For Jamil Abiad, his career in basketball has been grounded in one simple factor: his love for the game. A love that was unleashed at the age of 13 years old when he began his journey in the sport, and one that morphed into an incredible story of dedication, personal growth, and mentorship over the years. It was throughout his time as a professional basketball player that Jamil began developing a passion for training athletes. He was captivated by the opportunity to help other athletes reach their dreams and achieve their highest potential on the court. This was it. This was the avenue Jamil knew he wanted to pursue after his playing career. Sure enough, he did just that. From working with

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the Ottawa BlackJacks as an assistant coach and player development coach to offering one-on-one skills training classes, Jamil immersed himself in the world of player development. He was on a mission. During his time with the BlackJacks, Jamil received an opportunity to join the coaching staff of a professional basketball club in Iceland. The rest is history! Currently in Iceland, Jamil is heading into his fourth year as an assistant coach for the men's basketball team and second year as the head coach for the women's. Through it all, he remains driven by his commitment to helping athletes become the best version of themselves on and off the court. Amazing!

Take us back! How did you get started in the world of coaching?

I played professionally for a few years and in that time I started developing a passion for training athletes. After my third year of playing professionally, I got into that full-time. I was helping kids from the age of six all the way up to professional athletes develop their skills and get to where they wanted to be. I was developing a plan for them and so forth. In 2021, I joined the CBL here in Canada—which is a professional basketball league—as a player development assistant coach for the Ottawa BlackJacks. I did that with them for three seasons. In that process, I managed to get connected with somebody who is a friend of a friend, and I got an opportunity to go coach professionally in Iceland. I have been an assistant coach and player development coach for a club out there; and am now heading into my fourth year with the men's program. I got appointed as the Head Coach for the women’s professional team this past season, and am going into my second year (this season). So basketball has taken me around (the world). All the way from (Canada) to Iceland. I’ve also been able to travel to Africa for a few years and have done a couple of things to try to find players with talent. I’ve worked with the SEED Project in Senegal. I’ve gotten (a chance) to go to Chad and Gabon as well. It’s been pretty awesome. I could never have painted this type of picture before. If you had asked me where (basketball) was going to take me, I would have told you the NBA like every kid (*laughs*). But now, being on the other side of things, there's so much more to basketball than we actually think. There’s so many other avenues that we can still be connected with. As much as I miss playing and would love to play some more now, I've really come to enjoy this part of the game for sure.

As you transitioned from playing to coaching, what were some challenges that you faced early on?

Initially, I thought it would be tough to just put the shoes up. I was always playing in men's leagues and stuff like that when I stayed home. I think as a professional athlete, the thing that you miss most is the regimen that you get locked into. You know, you're so focused on your habits of training, eating, and preparation that build up to games and everything else like that. I kind of missed the whole routine (of things) and that kind of threw me off. But, I think because I was still connected to basketball it wasn't that big of a transition. I still had that fuel that I had as an athlete. The difficulties that I ran into were just trying to get your head now into the perspective of a teacher opposed to a player. I think my strength—that a lot of people have told me over the last little while—is the fact that I'm a players’ coach more than just a coach. I'm able to relate to a lot of players pretty quickly and help them in real time because I've dealt with the majority of things that they're probably going through and am able to adapt. That was a little bit of a challenge before, but now I’m seeing it more as a strength. The other thing that I'm still working on is: sometimes you have to make that line down the middle and remember that you are their coach. You can’t always be a friend or (someone) trying to make it easier for them. That's something that I'm struggling with a little bit, but again is something that also has really worked for me and allowed me to connect with athletes.

Let’s dive into finding your coaching style! You mentioned being a players’ coach and finding that balance between relating to them as a former player but also understanding your role as a head coach. How have you worked to find that balance and discover your coaching style?

The biggest thing when I went from being an assistant coach to a head coach…as an assistant coach, I feel you can actually be a little bit more connected to the players in the sense of trying to help them out. The line doesn't have to always be drawn as much as an assistant coach because the head coach will always make the final decisions and so forth. As an assistant coach, you're there to help them and try to direct them a little bit more—when they have issues, you try to help them navigate through (those). Whereas as the head coach, you're responsible now for the whole team, making sure everything is in order, and making sure there's no favoritism or anything like that. You make sure things are equal with every single player and that everyone's following the rules. So I'm learning how to do that since I'm heading into my second year now as a professional head coach. You know, you still want to make your players feel welcomed, that they can approach you at any time, and know that you have their back and can help them in any situations that they're having. As an assistant coach, you’re always at the forefront of making your players happy. As a head coach, you have a job to get done. You're a little bit more disciplined and focused on them doing what they have to do, so that’s been a little bit of a learning curve. I think I'm slowly grasping the median of being on the friendly side and then like: “Hey, this is still your job so let’s make sure we get this done and you stay locked in.”

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