Through Travel2Learn, we had the opportunity to travel to Tanjeh, a coastal town in Gambia. Travel2Learn organises group trips to Gambia and supports various social projects including sports. One of them is a women's soccer team that has only been around for a short time, in an environment where women's football is anything but obvious.
Behind this team is Ensa Nije!
He is the local trainer, Travel2Learn employee and, above all, someone for whom football has always been central. Once upon a time, he was selected to play professional football in Germany. A serious knee injury put an abrupt end to that. In Gambia, that meant not rehabilitating and continuing, but quitting. His dream fell apart.
Ensa has given a new shape to his dream.
With NJIE's Football Academy, he trains young players every day, coaches the men's team and builds women's football with great conviction. This was not without resistance, but Ensa chose the long way. He visited the families, built trust and made it clear that women also want and can play football and that this is possible in addition to learning and school. His goal is clear: to let women play football and give Gambia football players the chance he never got.
When Ensa saw X-Skills in the Netherlands, he was immediately enthusiastic. Training techniques, learning to scan, better communication, positioning, making developments visible and measurable. This is what he wanted to help his players grow.
Travel2Learn and X-Skills worked it out quickly together and decided to take on this challenge to make Ensa's players even better.
Does this work in a country like Gambia?
Ensa made the rebounders himself, using materials he had at his disposal. And a few weeks later, we got photos that weren't perfect, but functional and suited to his surroundings.
Together with Ensa, we trained the players and what immediately stood out:
- Players were able to start immediately.
- No long explanation.
- No language barrier.
- The exercises and feedback spoke for themselves.
Everyone participated at their own level. New players are just as good as players who have been training for a long time. Through times, scores, and replays, players saw their own progress. That resulted in something essential: an experience of success. Even with players who are normally less noticeable.
The moment that lingered:
On the first day, we did a simple exercise. In teams of three, each trying three. First the men and then the women.
The women set faster times than most men's teams.
On the side, it became quiet for a while, no discussion, no assumptions, only data. And data is data 😉.
Ten days of training on a sand field in Gambia makes one thing clear:
If you make skills measurable, everyone can develop, regardless of level, gender, background or environment, and that just makes us incredibly happy!
What a great thing this was and all thanks to Travel2Learn for making this possible.