By: Lamin Fadera
Birthdays are a unique moment in people’s lives, a moment of reflection on how far an individual has progressed in life and the impact they have on the lives of others.
People celebrate birthdays in different forms, for example, by going out for dinner with friends, family, and loved ones, and some even fast during the day to commemorate the return of the day they came to this world.
Yakarr football Academy founder Adama Jarjou celebrated her birthday in a unique style. Over the last four years, she has celebrated her special occasion by organizing a football festival in her community in Siffoe Kombo South.
Jarjou sponsored different women in her community and its surrounding areas through the Academy and foundation.
In the 2022 edition of her birthday in October, she organized a two-day football festival slated for the 29th and 30th of October 2022.
This year’s edition marks the 5th anniversary of the football festival in Siffoe, where many people benefit from the sponsorship her Academy provides for the community.
‘The main objective of this festival is to promote grassroots and women’s football in particular, so it is also a motivational program for these youngsters, which is very important. Even though women’s football is developing in the Gambia, so much is lacking, and this is the platform to showcase their talent; it is also an opportunity for women to take part to inspire and be inspired,” Adama Jarjou told the Alkamba Times.
According to Jarjou, this year’s football festival will attract a nationwide team and a registration fee of 1000 dalasi for each group.
Sponsorship challenge
Despite her great ambition, Adama’s challenge is the need for more sponsorship for the football festival over the past four years.
She said every year, she and her team write to different institutions but need more support from sponsors to reach more people.
‘Every year, we write to different institutions asking for support, but we need more help from these institutions. We also wrote to the GFF, but I have yet to get a response from them,” She explained.
Paying Player’s tuition fees
Over the past years, Adama and her team have been very instrumental in paying the tuition fees for some of the players on her team.
‘We pay tuition fees for others because we don’t want them to see football as useless; we pay for vulnerable students. We want their parents to know the importance of education and take football seriously,” she said.
