Cameroon has indeed made significant contributions to global sports, primarily by being the first African team to reach the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals in 1990, including winning multiple Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) titles and a football Olympic gold medal in Sydney 2000. The nation is a sports powerhouse and a source of global talent, showcasing stars like Samuel Eto’o who was one-time highest paid footballer in the world, two-times triple jump Olympic gold medalist Françoise Mbango and former UFC heavy-weight world champion Francis Ngannou.
Cameroon is still regarded today as one of Africa’s greatest football-playing nations and in many parts of the nation, the dream of becoming a professional athlete is one that thousands of children by as early as 8 years aspire to achieve. These aspirants look up to their parents and schools for support and answers as they grow. Unfortunately, that is not the preoccupation or mandate of primary and secondary schools across the national territory. Interestingly, the vast majority of households where our aspirants or trainees come from are low-income earners who don’t usually have enough to go around for their children’s school needs and so, the burden of enabling the fulfilment of dreams seems to fall on sports entities like us. Somehow, we are often expected to make the most of these dreamers with usually very little or nothing to go with.
Africa Dream International Sports Academy (ADISA) was created in 2012 and became both the fastest growing and the largest sports academy in Cameroon by 2014. Our operations drive intervention in two domains; Youth Empowerment and Gender Equality. That is why in recent years, we keenly look to ameliorate the marginalization of girls in sport through innovative programs which give girls more access to sport and this commitment to youth empowerment and gender equality brings to bear enormous responsibility at ADISA. Building and preserving a long-term commitment to serve our beneficiaries and stakeholders along with an uncompromising respect for our values is the daily requirement at ADISA, which has shaped our identity as a trailblazer in the sports industry in Cameroon.
