Aston Villa donated full kits to local Gambia football team

Aston Villa donated full kits to local Gambia football team

A local football team in The Gambia are now fully kitted out thanks to the help of Aston Villa and Foundation coach Luke Shail. 

The Future Sports Officer made the over-5,500-mile round trip to the West African country alongside members of the Building Futures In The Gambia (BFIG) charity.

With the help of Aston Villa, Luke kitted out the football team from the small town of Kololi with 2016/17 Aston Villa kits. He also delivered a coaching session on the team, showing how to effectively manage a team.

Luke had this to say about the experience with the Gambian team:

“I delivered a coaching session on behalf of Aston Villa to a local team that has just been formed. This is a big deal as there are only three teams within the local area and it helps bring the different tribes and communities together.

“I was able to give the coaches of the teams new information about how to run their teams more efficiently and what to work on.

“With the help of Aston Villa, we were also able to donate a full kit to each player so they now look like a team and the coach told me his team ‘will wear this kit with pride’.”

Luke’s affiliation with BGIF has seen him travel to The Gambia four times and raise funds to support the charity’s newest project – building a new nursery school in Busumbala.

During his latest visit, Luke provided assistance in lessons and led sports sessions at several local nurseries, primary schools and secondary schools. His lessons, put together with the help from fellow Newman University students, proved so popular that at one stage the group had over 300 kids involved.

He said:

“Overall it was a great experience and I will continue to travel to The Gambia over the coming years, continuing to develop links and friendships.”