Baboucarr Sanyang, the co-founder and sponsor of Bakoteh My Community Football Academy has told The Chronicle his aim is to help young aspiring footballers of Bakoteh, located in the Kanifing Municipality, not only excel on the pitch, but to grow and develop off the pitch too.
Formed in 2013, the academy is aimed at helping young players maximize their potential in football and education. “The ultimate aim is to deliver more and better home-grown players which will in turn deliver benefits to both the domestic football league at all levels and the national team,” said Baboucarr. “These kids are all talented, so it’s easy for coaches to guide them with the rightful skills to excel.”
Sanyang, a UEFA C license grassroots coaching holder works with Handover74, an amateur football team in Germany as a trainer.
“I want to thank my team handover74 for supporting me, “he said. They’ve believed in my abilities and continue to support my dreams.”
The football academy also provides guidance and works closely with parents of the players to further the youth development system. “It wasn’t easy at the beginning for us because parents believed football was a hindrance to their kids’ education,” says Ebrima Jadama the founder of the academy. “So, to win their hearts we were compelled to organize educative youth community camps with football matches and social activities as a means to develop the relationship between different communities and also to help the kids with school work.”
With the parents now on board, the academy offers fun introductory football sessions every Saturday and Sunday to develop both the physical and psychological skills of the youngsters. The hope is to get them to international stardom.
