A private agency for player scouting and recruiting called SPOCS, under the leadership of former Gambia and England international Cherno Samba, has started a five-day scouting programme in the Gambia, at the GFF National Technical training Center (NTTC) in Old Yundum.
The scouting will target players from clubs in different categories.
Samba told the GFF media on Tuesday of his feeling about the exercise: “I’m very happy with what happened today. There are at least three players that we saw, and we feel that with the right help, they can have a career in the game. That is why I thought of bringing this exercise to my own country where I was born. I’m glad some of my partners and clubs are here. There are more coming today,” Samba noted.
Sascha Empacher, a partner in the project, said their mission in the Gambia is to get the best talents from the grassroots. “We got Adama Bojang and Dembo Saidykhan to Stade de Reims and Vancouver White Caps respectively. This is why we are here to scout for new talents. Africa is a continent of sports, and since we spotted Muhammed Salah and Baba Rhaman, we took many other players to Europe, Asia, and the Arab countries. Now we’re doing a scouting program, which is so intense like nobody did before. In the last eight weeks, I have been to Nigeria twice, Ghana and Zambia. We’re now in the Gambia, and we’ll be going to Cameroon. Our mission is to get the very best players from the grassroots to the professional league,” he said.
Agbejoye Gbenga Victor, the Director of SPOCS in Nigeria described Gambian players as very talented and hailed the partnership between SPOCS and the Gambia Football Federation. “Gambian football is actually taking the lead in Africa and I am saying this because of the quality of talents in the U-17 and U-20 and I think in the next two years Gambia will be the face of African football, and kudos to the Gambia Football Federation,” he said.
