The first vice-president of the Gambia Football Association, Major General Langtombong Tamba, has called on Gambian football coaches to always strive to develop the knowledge, techniques and motivation of their respective football teams and players for the good of the game.

Tamba, a football enthusiast, who doubles as Gambia’s army chief, believes every good coach must be able to effectively analyse matches and design innovative training methods and programmes. According to him, match reading remains one of the most important aspects of modern-day coaching. He also advised the local coaches to always be open to new ideas and continually improve their skills and knowledge of the game in order to be successful. He emphasized the need for the coaches to maintain a high level of concentration during matches to be able to effectively analyse the game during intervals, hinting that coaches should also ignore pressure from spectators and administrators.

The GFA number 2 made these remarks at the end of a week-long FIFA-GFA sponsored coach training course that brought together dozens of Gambian football coaches at the National Technical Training Centre in Yundum. Admitting that regular training is key to the personal development of coaches, the GFA vice-president said his association, with other stakeholders, will go the extra mile to support coaches by facilitating overseas training and exchange programmes to further widen their scopes in the trade. Mr Lamin Sanneh, the Governor of Western Region, registered the government’s appreciation to FIFA through the Gambia Football Association for its support in strengthening local capacities over the years.

Governor Sanneh said these significance contributions always complement the government’s efforts to develop sports. For his part, South African Urban De Kock, who staffed the course, said the week-long session was very interactive, intensive, educative, interesting and enjoyable, adding that he will also go home with memories of the warm reception accorded to him by the Gambian people.