By Lamin Cham
Pursuant to our desire to celebrate Gambian sports and sports personalities, we at www.Gamsports.com accordingly welcome you to our annual  sports personality of the year award, which  shall seek to identify and name a personality who many would agree has made undisputed contribution to the long term development of Gambian sports
In this maiden edition of this award, we sounded and scanned our sports history and cotemporary context and the name of Father Joseph Gough ,the  former Principal of Saint Augustine’s High School stand tall above all in our short list.
Father Gough's contribution to Gambian sports unique, unrivalled and legendary, as evidenced abundantly by the huge amount of our countrymen and women whom he discovered, nurtured and modelled into great athletes and erudite scholars. Even on this very day, as I write this piece Father Gough continues to provide service to Gambian sports and education, in the form of The Father Gough Foundation.
It is in recognition of this outstanding achievement and positive influence he has and continues to have on our sports, that we bestow on him the honour of the First Ever Gamsports.com's Sports Personality of the Year Award.
To give you the most researched knowledge of Who Father Gough is, we bring you this profile of the man as never been told before. It is narrated by Gamsports' Lamin Cham.
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His Excellency, Fr Joseph Anthony Gough Cssp, Ambassador- at - Large of the Republic of The Gambia was born in Kilkenny Ireland in 1944 to a family of nine children.
Fr Gough attended local school until 1957 before proceeding to Rockwell College for secondary education.
He joined the Holy Ghost Congregation in 1963 and proceeded to Ireland's prestigious University College Dublin where he obtained a bachelors Degree with Honors.
Following his graduation from University College Dublin, he was assigned to work at Blackrock College as a trainee teacher.
In 1969 he returned to the seminary to complete his priestly studies and was ordained in 1971.
Following his ordination he returned to school to complete his higher diploma in Education in 1972, following which he was assigned to The Gambia where he would work for the next twelve years.
He became the Principal of St Augustine's High School in 1978 and his achievements are catalogued as unprecedented for generations to come. While he was synonymous with sports, Father's contribution to the development of academics at St Augustine's is unmatched. He introduced the Senegalo- Gambian Inter Schools Educational, Sports and Exchange Programme for which He was conferred with the title of the Pioneer of Senegambian Schools Exchange. In January 2009, President Yahya Jammeh appointed Fr Gough Gambian Ambassador-at-Large. He is also recipient of the National Order of the Republic of The Gambia conferred upon him by President Jammeh in 2005. In August of 2009, The Gambia National Christian Council awarded Fr Joseph Gough, its Alhagi Momodou Baboucarr Njie Lifetime Achievement Award.
Currently Fr Gough teaches English Language and Religious studies at Blackrock College where he doubles as Rugby Coach. For Joe Gough the message is simple, "SECOND BEST IS NOT AN OPTION."