Doing Life With… is a BellaNaija Features series that showcases how people live, work, travel, care for their families and… everything in between. We are documenting the lives of all people and ensuring everyone is well-represented at BN.
Our last conversation was with Cobhams Asuquo. Did you miss it? You can catch up here.
This week, we are doing life with Aruna Ganiyat, a tennis champion who now serves her family’s official table tennis coach. She coaches her family, including her three children and husband for table tennis matches. Enjoy the conversation.
Hello Ganiyat. How are you feeling today?
Feeling good and you?
We feel good. Thank you for asking. Can you share a bit about your background—your upbringing, education, and how you encountered table tennis?
I was born and raised in Lagos, Fadeyi to be precise. I lived with my grandmother in Fadeyi on Jacob Street. I attended Nigeria Model Nursery and Primary School in Idi-Oro, Mushin. But I finished primary school at Blessed Memorial Nursery and Primary School on Jacob Street, Fadeyi-Lagos. I attended Igbobi Girls High School for Junior Secondary School 1–3, and then my Senior Secondary School 1_3 was at Anthony Village High School. I did a diploma at University of Lagos (UNILAG) but did not finish before I travelled out, but to the glory of God, I am a graduate of Atlantic International University (AIU) in the United States. I started playing table tennis with my friends at home on any wooden table we found, using planks as our net. After improving, I started playing on the street; there was a table tennis table near our house. The owner was Baba Ahmed. That’s where my journey began. After school, I attended lessons, did chores, and then played table tennis at Baba Ahmed’s place. Whenever I played, a large crowd gathered; many people bet on me. I never played without a crowd.
I played everywhere on the streets of Mushin, or anywhere I saw a table tennis table. So I proceeded to playing inside the Rowepark Hall, and that is where the story changed for good.
I played everywhere on the streets of Mushin, in fact, anywhere I saw a table tennis table. So I proceeded to playing inside the Rowepark hall, and that is where the story changed for good. My grandmother and my mother gave me all the support I needed. I started playing in tournaments; at first, it was not as easy as I thought. After a while, everything started getting better, so I started winning matches against my peers. They found it increasingly difficult to defeat me, including the seniors. I won many matches against seniors then.
What then inspired you to transition into coaching?
I was inspired by my husband and kids to become a coach because we want to keep the legacy continuing.
How so?
It all started as a joke; I would always take Mariam with me to training. Then, years later, her brother joined. At one point, we bought a table tennis table at home, and we would train them there.
Like I said, we only wanted to ensure the legacy continues. So we gave them the chance to try different sports so they could choose whichever they liked best. They started with football and table tennis, while my third child, Amira, started with football and gymnastics; she later added table tennis. They play table tennis and football twice a week. When they started playing in table tennis tournaments, they would feel bad after defeats and say they needed to train more, and I would agree. So their father advised that we reduce football to once a week to see how they would improve in table tennis, which we both agreed to, and it worked.
It was even the children who chose table tennis over football when they started winning. But Amira loves gymnastics more than table tennis, so she is doing both, and she is very good at gymnastics. They are also doing judo at school and are going to mini judo tournaments and have won some laurels.
You coach your children and sometimes their father. How does it feel to coach your children and how do you balance being a coach and a family member?
It feels so good to coach my husband and kids; it’s been a great privilege and opportunity.
A full house of sports people
Yes o.
Haha, we love it! So, it must be rewarding to coach your family, but what are the challenges you encounter often?
The most rewarding part is that my contributions as a mother and coach are valued. The challenging part is taking them from school to training in the evening and still meeting with their lesson teacher after late-night training on weekdays, despite the tiredness, while also fulfilling my duties as a wife. I have gotten used to it, anyway.
Well done!
Thank you.
Do you see coaching as a long-term career, or is there another phase you’re looking forward to?
Yes, as long as my kids are doing well, I am looking forward to doing better than before.
What’s a typical day in your life? That is, what you’d do from morning till night
Watching movies, surfing the internet and performing my duties as a wife and mother to my family.
There are three balls – red, green and black– and you’re to pick one. Black means you win $12,000. Green means you win something better than black. Red is a mystery. Which ball would you pick?
Something better could be anything, so I will go for a bird at hand which is black.
If you could remove and include three things from your life, what would they be and why?
Being too soft and people taking advantage of it. Procrastination: sometimes taking too much time on things that should have been done earlier believing I still have a lot of time. Time factor: Always African time.
Thank you for being on Doing Life With…, Ganiyat
Thank you for having me.
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Many thanks to Aruna Ganiyat for having this conversation with us and answering all our questions – and swiftly too, we must add.
Do you love this content, have any feedback for us or want to be a BellaNaija Features contributor? We’d love to read from you. Shoot us an email: [email protected]. Join us on Saturday for the next episode!
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English (US) ·