Wednesday, 4 January 2017

Ajara Samba: One of Gambia’s Promising Female Footballers






Ajara Samba born on 26th June 1998 in Banjul is a Red Scorpions forward player who started playing football since 2003.

She was inspired into the game of football by her elder brother who used to go with him to training.
She first played for City Girls FC in 2006 in which she made 13 appearances for the team and scored 18 goals. The sensational attacker moved to Old Jeshwang-based Red Scorpion FC in 2009 where she is currently playing for. She has made 34 appearances for Red Scorpions and scored 25 goals for the club so far.
Ajara Samba became a FIFA Live Your Goal Initiative Ambassador in 2015 and she is aspiring to play for the national female team one day.
The highly-fancied striker is one of the best female footballers in Gambian football. Her intelligence, smartness and respect have earned her admiration from many.
Just like many, Samba said she has been receiving discouraging comments from her mother who believed football is a game for men. “But I kept convincing her that it is not the case.”
As to what challenges she faces as a footballer, she replied, “Some of the challenges I faced was when going to play football my mother at first did not like me play the game because they said it is a game meant for men.”
She however revealed that her father and brother were always encouraging and supporting her, citing that the father would always buy her football boots.  “Sometimes I use to sit and cry because I don’t have anyone to play [football] with, but my father always encourages me to have faith in the game saying that someday I will be someone in the game.”
A graduate of Gambia Senior Secondary School, Ajara Samba who also works with the Ministry of Health as a procurement clerk, is now calling on the football authorities to give much attention to women football in order to inspire more girls into the game.

Source:  Arfang MS Camara

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