At the age of 34, the French-Gabonese is now set to represent her native country of Gabon.

After years of living and playing in France but not invited to play for its national side, Robert has decided that her talent could make a major difference for her homeland, a country whose 10-year absence from the African scene was damaging the future of the game in the country.

When Gabon hosts in their capital city of Libreville, from 2 to 8 March, the FIBA Africa Zone 4 qualifier for this summer’s AfroBasket Women, Robert will live a new chapter in her career.

The Villeneuve D’Ascq forward, who is averaging 10.8 points and 5.2 rebounds in the Ligue Feminine de Basket (LFB) this season, will make her national team debut for the country she left as a teenager.

Robert built a successful career in France and around Europe.

She has won titles, and was the recipient of the LFB 2013 MVP award.

Two years ago, Robert featured for French side Lattes Montpellier in the EuroLeague Women.

Even though Robert was eligible to play internationally for France, she never featured for Les Bleues.

And, she made sure to thank Villeneuve D’Ascq for allowing her to travel to Gabon, despite the club’s busy LFB and EuroCup Women schedules.

On Thursday, Villeneuve D’ascq will take on Turkish side Maccabi Bnot in the second-leg of their EuroCup Women Semi-Final.

They will play with Robert thousands of miles away, featuring for Gabon.

"I really want to thank my club Villeneuve d’Ascq and its President for letting me to go to Libreville for this event," she said.

It is going to be an exciting time for Robert.

She and eleven other mostly locally based players will battle against Cameroon, the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo for a place at this year’s AfroBasket Women, which is expected to take place in Cameroon from 24 September to 4 October.

Robert’s decision to join the Gabon national team is a “homecoming” of sorts, but she is, in fact, a regular visitor to the country.

She has hosted a number of youth basketball camps and also been involved in community projects with her YEMALI foundation.

Now, more than anything else, it’s time to bring some more practical results to the table.

Just like Gabon men’s national team did, the "Panthers" last competed in the African Championships in 2005.

Coincidently, Robert’s decision to represent Gabon, comes just three weeks after Anadolu Efes’s forward Stephane Lasme gave me an interview, confirming his intentions of playing for his country again for the first time since 2005.

She explained how she came up with the decision to help Gabon:

Since I started playing at high-level, both national teams (Women and Men) were almost non-existent in Gabon - Robert

Both tje Gabon men and women’s teams spent the past two weeks holding training camps in Tunisia ahead of this week’s qualifiers for the continental championships as well as for All-African Games in the Republic of Congo.

Robert’s homecoming is great news for Gabon, as she brings a lot of experience and talent.

He presence will boost Gabon’s chances of making it to FIBA Africa’s top women’s competition.

Julio Chitunda
FIBA