The ongoing Olympics Games in Paris and the performance of Team- Gambia have once again driven home the need for greater attention to other disciplines other than football, especially athletics.
Sadly in The Gambia, football takes the lion’s share of government’s financial support to sports.
In the last three years alone, government spent nearly D300M(and counting) on the national football team’s activities alone. Yes, football may be the most popular (even that is debatable compared to athletics) and probably more expensive, but certainly not more exciting or rewarding to the nation than athletics. Imagine the few minutes of enthrallment and pride all Gambians experienced as Gina Bass ran that 100 meters heat the other day and the overall joy we got from the events of other athletes in general.
Imagine the fame and glory the Gambia will get if Gina or Ebrima Camara wins gold. What a story would it be if Sanu Jallow, Alasan Ann or any of our swimmers should win a medal. Yet, all these could have been possible with hard work and adequate funding for them to get top class training and preparations. There is no magic in sports, only adequate facilitation and hard work breeds excellence
So for The Gambia to excel in other disciplines our government and sports authorities must diversify their focus and allocations of fund for sports. If even a fraction of the D300M given to the national football team is given to the GAA, Gina Bass and her colleagues would have been able to stay and train at the best facilities in United States and prepare better for the Olympics. Government should not just allocate budget for events but training and technical preservations of our players or athletes is as important as participation.
The GAA, GNOC and the Ministry of Sports should collaborate and provide technical guidance and finance to give our athletes the requisite preparations to enable them to compete at the global stage.
It may take another four years to another Olympics but with many of our top athletes relatively young, they have not passed their peak and with more attention and support they could do greater things.
Even better, a sound sports policy and strategy can fish out and nurse fresh raw talent every time.
However and perhaps more importantly to achieve sustained progress in our sports, we must revisit the past and give sports to the veterans and the technocrats mostly educationists who have played or administered sports either from school or club level.
Sport must return to be an integral part of our education system. We must realise that sports education is as important as any other area of study. Example one of the best teachers of the olden generation in The Gambia were PE teachers or had great enthusiasm for sports. They include the living and past legends, Alpha. A Khan, Hassan Joof Sabastian Njie, James Abraham. Ebou Joof, Sait Mbye, Ousman Sabally, Teacher Mike, James Abraham and the list goes on. It is never too late. Let us act now.
-Lamin Cham
