226 years since Napoleon Bonaparte landed in Malta during the French occupation of the islands, a new Napoleon will be among the local community, this time as a Starlites’ women’s team player called Makaila Napoleon, who the club announced this weekend.
US-born guard-forward Napoleon was confirmed by the Naxxar-based club on Saturday as they aim to rebuild after the departure of trio Steffi De Martino, Maria Bonett, and Andie Saliba to Hibernians earlier this summer.
“A new addition to the Starlites community as Makaila Napoleon has joined our organisation for the upcoming season,” a Starlites statement read.
“Joining us all the way from Jessup University in California, Makaila’s dedication and resilience will definitely have a positive impact on the Senior Women squad this year.”
Jessup University, an NAIA college until the end of last season before transitioning to the NCAA Division Two for the coming season, saw Napoleon start 12 of the 13 games she played last season.
The 5’11 player finished her final season at Jessup with a 43% field-goal percentage and 67% freethrow-shooting percentage as she averaged 12.6 points per game. She grabbed 6 rebounds and blocked 2.3 shots a game while at the other end of the court, she assisted 3.1 scores. This was crucial for the team as Jessup won a program-record 22 games in the 2023-24 campaign and earned an at-large bid into the NAIA National Tournament.
“I’m very excited to be joining Starlites BC. It has been a dream of mine since I was a little girl to be a professional athlete and I’m extremely grateful that Starlites is giving me this opportunity,” Napoleon told the club’s socials.
“What I’m most looking forward to is meeting new people within the organisation and learning about the culture in Malta”.
Starlites will now be hoping it won’t be another six-day stay in Malta for Napoleon as they push to turn around their favour under new coach Peter Shoults who was announced as Fatih Dedelioglu’s replacement this past week.
Last season, Starlites lifted the Super Cup and were finalists for the John Tabone Women’s Shield before leading the women’s league standings for the majority of the regular season campaign before their form faltered at the business end.
