Newlandsfield teen helps kids back home

Mouhamed “Sena” Niang hadn’t even heard of Scotland let alone Pollok before he swapped Senegal for his new home six years ago.

But kids growing up 4000 miles away in the neighbourhood he’s from will soon be donning the junior outfit’s jersey if the 17-year-old has his way.

Lok boss Tony McInally has revamped his squad for this season but it’s the regular sight of a sixfoot-plus teenager who honed his talents playing on sand that will perhaps be the most promising.

Sena has become the f irst academy player to progress to the senior side after signing a contract that lets him skipper the Under-19s on a Sunday when he’s not playing for the first team on a Saturday.

Not bad for a player only snapped up last season because he gave one of the Under-19s coaches a call after spotting an advert for players.

Sena, who grew up in Mbao in the capital of Dakar, said: “We’re going to send stuff to the street I used to live in and hand kits out to the kids there so they can wear them and have my number – No.5.

“I’ve said to my uncle he can start a team, be the coach and call them Pollok then they can play against other local teams. That’s what we want to do. My local team was called Liverpool and my dad used to get us the kits and we’d go and play against other streets.

“Matt, one of the Under-19s coaches, came up with the idea and my family back home said it would be great because it will make a lot of people happy as well. My country is football mad. Every house you go into there will be at least someone who will become a footballer.”

The 17-year-old has been living in Springburn with his mum and three of his younger siblings since 2011 after his parents decided to seek a better quality of life.

Sena said: “You’ve got more opportunities here than you’ve got there – not just with football, with everything.

“I wasn’t struggling financially but my dad and mum saw the situation and just thought, ‘ You’ve got more chances of making it here than you’ve got there.’ To be honest I had never even heard of Scotland until I came here!

“My sister is still at school. She is planning to go to uni to study law and if it was in Senegal it would have been way tougher.”

The youngster spent a year on Rangers’ books not long after setting foot in Scotland but admits he felt “kind of lost”.

He said: “I wasn’t used to the grass, for example, and then the technical side of things as well.

“I felt like it was so early. If I had the chance now it would be different because I am used to the country, the weather, stuff like that.

“You couldn’t really play nice football back home because of the surface ... I couldn’t say it was grass – it was sand.

“But we had good players. To start playing there toughened me up. When I came here I realised as soon as I started playing I was always physical – that’s natural.

“I guess that’s something I took from Senegal because you would play with boys who were really strong even though they were kids.”

Focused on footbal l and studying an HND in health and fitness at City of Glasgow College, Sena is in many ways a typical 17- year- old who dreams of becoming a star in England.

And yet not only does he talk about emulating ex- Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira on the pitch, he’s already thinking of how to grow the game back home like the Senegalese-born legend has with the creation of an academy.

His immediate goal, though, is to grow into a regular in McInally’s first team. “I believe I have the ability to help the team out,” said Sena who started in yesterday’s 1-1 draw with Rob Roy.

“But it takes time because I am just a boy to them and it’s up to me to show the gaffer and everyone I’ve got the attributes to help the team out week in, week out.”

It’s a chance many of the youngsters he went up against back home may not get and the defensive midfielder added: “That makes me work even harder.

“If you are getting that chance you’re kind of lucky to be getting it because there are boys as good as you or even better who aren’t.

“It’s making the most of it and going at a higher level. I’ve not done any thing yet – I’m not a footballer yet.”