FOROYAA Newspaper (Serrekunda)
Publisher
6 November 2009
The time has come for Gambians to put National sports in its right place as a game which enables the participants to enjoy good health and self esteem and the spectators to be entertained. National teams belong to the whole Nation irrespective of tribe, gender, religion, political affiliation or place of origin.
Hence when the Under 17 Football Team of the Gambia became the champions of the continent all Gambians enjoyed the glory. It did add to the integrity of the country and increased a sense of National self esteem. They were welcomed by tens of thousands irrespective of the gender, religion or political affiliation of the person.
The executive however increasingly took ownership of the activities surrounding the celebrations of victory. The victory of the team was given many interpretations other than the sheer skills and determination of the team. The state should have drawn lessons from the victory and further develop a national resource base to invest in the development of sporting facilities and provide sustainable incentives to the players. Unfortunately, the victory was transformed into National fan fare.
Many biscuits were thrown to the crowd. We are still guessing what the purpose is. The incentives were reflected as a by-product of the generosity of the president. The State did not feature as the financier of the National team even though GAMTEL a public corporation was deeply involved. One could not differentiate between political party, the President and the state as far as the success of the team was concerned. This became increasingly more evident as the Under 17 World Cup Tournament drew near. When the boys were about to leave for Nigeria they went through rituals.
Now the participation of the Gambia has become history. It is clear to every one who watched the matches that the members of the Under 17 National Team are good players but was unsettled in all their matches. Did they go with the notion that they had supernatural support to win? Did they go with the full understanding that victory depended on their skills, high self esteem, full confidence and team spirit?
The lesson should therefore be clear from the results. The team played with that of Iran and lost to players who would claim to be mainly Moslems. They lost to Uruguay a team whose members would claim to be mainly Catholics. The Gambian team lost to Colombia a team whose members would also claim to be mainly Catholics.
Where then does belief play a role in victory in a football march? Those football players who want to make progress in the game should know that football like all games is a secular activity carried out by people belonging to diverse faiths and holding diverse beliefs. Victory or defeat does not signify the superiority of faith or belief.
The Gambian Under 17 Team has created a national culture of achievement in football. The role of the authorities is to ensure that such a standard does not drop. This calls for development of facilities, sustaining of training and creation of incentives for good performance. The rituals should be left aside for players to do for themselves in accordance with their various beliefs.
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