The first ever all full-fledged football school has been opened at QCity in Brusubi, the City’s Sports manager Ebrima Manneh told The Standard over the weekend.
Manneh, a former technical director of the Gambia Football Federation said the concept of a football center of excellence started in 2014 but because the facilities then were being built, it started with a summer camp.
“We started with mainly children of the Q Group staff and of course interested parents around Brusubi and today we have a school which is premised on providing football skills for all. By that we mean making it affordable for children to learn football at a young age,” he said.
Manneh also said because of the excellent facilities at the City, teams from other academies were happy to play in friendly matches from which they were able to recruit players for the City’s academy which targets raw talents from among the school attendees.
He said once a player has caught the attention of the coaches, he would become a member of the academy which will now take care of his welfare and other needs.
“We have over 20 players of pure raw talent and we have not gone out yet to recruit on a massive scale,” he said.
Manneh said the idea is to make Gambian players attractive to big markets. But for that you must develop an academy that will reach a top class standard just like Senegal has in Generation Foot among others,” Manneh said. The players he said are transported to and from their picking points near their homes by a bus shuttle to ensure their safety.
Q City also boasts of a well equipped gym, professional and amateur swimming pools, table tennis, Polo and of course a modern football facility.
