By Landing Ceesay
The Gambia National Olympic Committee (GNOC) completed a six-day (6) Technical Coaching Course for twenty-five (25) Wrestling Coaches on Monday, December 19, 2022.
The 6-day training is aimed at equipping Gambian wrestling coaches with technical skills in Olympic wrestling.
Speaking at the closing ceremony, Mr. Yorro Njie, Secretary General of GNOC said for over 30 years, his organization has been equipping its members both financially and technically.
Mr. Njie said they are proud to say that the expertise GNOC brought from Nigeria has delivered positive results.
“The training will no doubt contribute significantly to the building of capacity and professionalism not only in you as coaches but also in the Gambian sportsmen and women. This opportunity will avail you, and it would guide you in understanding the passage of coaching and leadership in sports. It will also help you enhance the standards and quality of sports delivery in the country,” Mr. Njie said.
Mr. Sering Modou Faye, President of the Gambia Wrestling Association (GWA) thank the GNOC for organizing such training for his members.
Mr. Faye expressed his gratitude for witnessing another historical moment take place during his tenure as the President of the Gambia Wrestling Association (GWA).
“I have no doubt that this level 1 Technical Coaching Course and Olympic Wrestling will go a long way in developing our Olympic Wrestling in the Gambia. Gambia Wrestling has made significant progress over the years locally and internationally in ECOWAS Wrestling. But as an executive body, our focus is now on Olympic wrestling. We believe that we have the raw talents and all we need is to equip them with the required skills. I strongly believe that if we are supported, Gambian Wrestlers will be winning medals on the International stage,” he said.
Mr. Abdoulie Bojang, a representative from the National Sports Council (NSC) urged the participants to work very hard to produce athletes that can represent the Gambia in the 2026 wrestling competition in Senegal.
“You have learned a lot from our guest trainer from Nigeria. I think whatever we learned from this training, we should not leave it to die. We have to showcase it, the sky is the limit,” Mr. Bojang said.
Mr. Purity Akuh, the expert trainer from Nigeria hailed the commitment and dedication of the participants during the training.
Mr. Akuh said the participants are very wonderful people, and the class has been so wonderful.
“I came in with the little knowledge I have tried to see what they have. I was trying to check the ability they have. I discovered that they have enough in them. They just needed someone to bring it out and that’s exactly what I did. We promised to go there and look for talents and to develop them, and nurture them so that they could go to the Olympics, and by the grace of God be at the podium in the nearest future,” Mr. Akuh stated.
Speaking on behalf of the participants, Mama Faye, thanked both the GNOC and GWA for organizing the training for them and urged her fellow participants to cherish the knowledge and transfer it to the other coaches who did not attend the training.
The closing ceremony took place at Paradise Suites hotel on Monday.