With all of the disappointments that Sam experienced during his competitive years, arising from the lack of interest, help and support for tennis in his home country of Sierra Leone, he passionately embarked on another journey, from 2007 onwards, after he retired from competitive tennis.
Sam had a vision for a charity which utilized sport as a vehicle to positively impact the lives of underprivileged children in Africa. He believes that sport, like music, can be harnessed as a great ‘language’ and connection to unite different people across the world. By 2008, he had formed his own charity foundation to aid and promote tennis development in Sierra Leone and later in other African countries. His foundation has evolved over the years, formerly known as Max & Sam Tennis Foundation from 2008-2010 and Sam Jalloh Sports Foundation from 2010–2014, it then developed into the Anglo-African Sports Education Trust (AASET) which continues to run and support sports programmes in Africa, for underprivileged children, today.
Sam’s main interest with his foundation is to give sporting opportunities to underprivileged children and to coaches in African countries, in particular, giving them the chance to play the game of tennis. He believes that this can instil a sporting interest and self-confidence in the children which can steer them away from crime and violence, such that they become productive and law-abiding citizens. Also, Sam’s foundation continues to help with educational opportunities for children, having provided school fees and stationary for several children over the years.
It is from his personal childhood experiences that Sam has always been acutely aware of and fully understood the difficulties that children face in his native country of Sierra Leone and in Africa in general. Consequently, he has been, and continues to be, actively engaged in the heartfelt pursuit of giving a helping hand to Africa. Ongoing, kind donations of unwanted sports equipment collected in England and Spain continue to be much appreciated. Furthermore, Sam remains committed to continuing his foundation work, indeed almost ninety five percent of his foundation’s funding over the years has come from Sam’s own savings. He strongly believes that Africa and the world will be a better place if we act as one family.
