The two-day sessions which gathered the association’s members both from the print and electronic media was meant to build the capacity of sports journalists in the country.
During the two-day sessions, participants were taken through sports management, sports journalism, sports news gathering, sports broadcasting, radio and TV, ethics in sports journalism and match officialdom respectively.
Speaking at the closing of the programme, Isatou Keita, vice president, GPU, said that journalism profession is a passion driven, as most of them got to it because of the passion they have for trade.
“With that passion at some point, one tends to do something which the person thinks is doing the right thing. At some point, one also falls short of what exactly is needed in terms of executing your task as expected as a reporter.”
This, she said, is where the GPU comes into play, adding that they might not be able to send everyone to school but instead they train and build the capacity of the individuals who have the passion for the profession.
“This capacity building training helps to build the knowledge and skills of an individual that they already amass when it comes to passion that is attached to what you do on a daily basis.”
According to her, she believed that the knowledge gained from the training will help participants to what they have already done over the years in terms of what they do on a daily basis.
Utman Jeng, vice president, SJAG, said the importance of capacity building cannot be over emphasised, noting that they can only better themselves as sport journalists if they continue to build their capacity.
“We thank the GPU for helping us to organise this training for our members. We also thank our resource persons for sharing their knowledge and experience in sports journalism.”
He went on to call the general membership of the SJAG to take ownership of the association, noting that “you can only partake in something that you belong to.”
“We challenge everyone that is reporting sports in the country to come forward and join the SJAG. We can only support each other as a family if we are together,” he said.
Lamin Cham, Course Instructor, expressed delight for associating himself with the two-day capacity building programme organised by the SJAG.
He commended both the SJAG and GPU for conceiving the idea to build the capacity of Sports Journalists in the Gambia.
“This is a very useful exercise looking at the work and challenges sports journalists face in their work. So, I have enjoyed the last two days and hope that the participants will put into good use what they have learnt.”
Ebrima Darboe, who spoke on behalf of the participants, thanked the executive of the SJAG for having the foresight to bring them together for two days to enhance their capacities on sports reporting and sports management.
“This is very important and it would serve a lot because there are a lot of issues discussed during the two days which are affecting our daily reporting of sports issues in the country.”
According to him, it is also important to have sessions on sports management, adding that in as much as some of them are sports journalists, they have also taken responsibilities somewhere in sports management.
“As the fourth estate, our contribution towards sports management is crucial because we always need to put sport managers into account.”
