Raptors’ forward Precious Achiuwa turns ‘what if’ into why not?
Posted December 18, 2023 10:52 am.
Last Updated December 18, 2023 10:57 am.
“What if?” is a question most people ask themselves at least once a day. “What if I didn’t take this job?” “What if Kawhi didn’t make that shot?”
For Toronto Raptors forward Precious Achiuwa that question is the motivation and inspiration behind his non-profit foundation ‘What If Unlimited.’
“The message and idea of what we do is empowerment,” Achiuwa told CityNews. “Whether it’s kids, young boys and girls, women, people in all aspects of life. We try to do it through education, athletic scholarships, or through business building. Whatever aspect of life people are focused on, especially in areas like that where there is not a lot of opportunity, just being able to create as many opportunities as possible for us is really what we prioritize ourselves with.”
Over the weekend the foundation hosted its first ‘What If Women’s Program’ in his hometown of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The event was inspired by a previous camp the foundation held where one of the staff noticed that some of the female participants who came to the camp didn’t have some of the resources as the male participants came with.
“It was amazing! We had over 150-plus women at a lunch for the event. It was amazing just to see how many smiling faces and the joy and togetherness of everyone at the event meant everything.”
For the past few years, Achiuwa has been creating opportunities for thousands of people around the world with a large focus on Nigeria. While he was not able to be at the event in Port Harcourt this weekend, this past summer he hosted a free basketball camp for over 1,000 kids and provided free equipment and resources for the participants.
“It’s really a surreal feeling being able to see things unfold with the foundation. At first, things were slow and now we are starting to see how much it’s developed and how impactful it is. For me when I first started this whole thing it wasn’t easy and it’s still not, but just the joy that people get from what we are doing and the whole empowerment process for me, that’s what keeps me and my team going.”
Aside from Nigeria, the foundation has hosted events in the United States, Sweden, and Canada. In 2022 the foundation held its first week-long basketball camp in Nigeria, a moment the 24-year-old remembers like it was yesterday.
“There were a lot of emotions, I was definitely scared,” Achiuwa said with a laugh. “I just never had done anything like that before. I remember walking into the gym that we refurbished and we got all the basketballs and jerseys and whatnot for the kids. I walked into the gym and I was so overwhelmed by all the kids and the smiles on their faces.”
Through the foundation Achiuwa has provided multiple scholarships for kids in Nigeria to attend school in North America and is hoping to use education and sport to empower them to reach their dreams but also inspire others to achieve their own.
“I look at it as creating opportunities for a lot of people because I was in the same position as a kid growing up. I didn’t really have much in terms of opportunities at the time when I was growing up so for me just being able to create as much opportunity for people as possible in any walks of life.”
Whether it’s through basketball, through career building, setting up businesses, whatever the case is, that’s what we are about and we are just trying to touch as many lives as possible through this process. I just want to make sure for them to never give up on their goals.”
Achiewa says that in 2024 the foundation will have even more events they hope will inspire and empower young children and women and help provide them with the resources to succeed.
