The deputy permanent secretary at the Ministry of Youth and Sports has urged participants to take the CAF Level C coaching course seriously. Abdoulie Kah was speaking yesterday while presiding over the opening ceremony of the two-week coaching clinic currently underway at the National Technical Training Centre in Yundum.
The course, which will wrap up on September 15 is a prerequisite for the 2015 CAF football competitions and thus the Gambia Football Federation has drawn 42 participants from the first and second division clubs with representatives from all the regional football associations.
DPS Kah, on behalf of Minister Alieu K Jammeh, thanked the normalisation committee for the initiative and its efforts in ensuring that the course takes place since several attempts were made without success. "It shows the interest they have in the development of the human resource base of those interested in the development of football, without which the much talked about excellence in sports will remain a dream that will not be realised," he indicated.
Kah did not hesitate to thank the country's football development partners, particularly the Confederation of African Football for facilitating the conduct of the course by providing not only the financial support but also the competent resource persons needed. Citing that coaching has moved from volunteerism to a source of meaningful and gainful employment, the DPS said competence will not be compromised, and therefore urged the participants to take the course seriously if they are to progress in their careers.
According to him, the training could not have come at a better time than now, when the country's football is faced with so many problems. "We have also observed with dismay an increase number of violence in sports, particularly football, which is mostly triggered by the coaching staff. I want to believe that at the end of this training course, we will begin to see difference in the game of football - [something] that will generate public interest. The government of The Gambia will continue to create the enabling environment for the youth that have interest in the game to excel."
Also speaking at the ceremony, Hon. Alhagie Sillah, chairman of the normalisation committee, said the training was historic, in the sense that it was facilitated during his stay in office. The importance of the training course, he said cannot be overemphasised, as many African countries have already done the training for their coaches.
While urging the coaches to take the training seriously, Hon. Sillah thanked the government through the Ministry of Youth and Sports and staff of the Football Federation for making the training a reality.
"Gambians are in a habit of not respecting what we produced but can I also tell you that Prophets are not respected in their countries of origin. Lamin Sarr is our product and works for CAF as an instructor, but are we utilising him? No! If The Gambia does not use him, it is the country that losses because whatever it is CAF will give him job and he will have food to put on his table. Let us try to use what we have," he told the coaches, while urging them to respect and support one another.
Lamin Sarr, the course instructor, informed the participants that there will be an examination at the end of the two-week session to assess the performance of the coaches. Describing coaching as a noble profession, Sarr, a former police officer, urged the participants to take the training seriously, listen keenly and ask questions.
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