Liberia in Milo U-13 Football Tourney in Ghana
 
Written by By Leroy M. Sonpon,III
leroysonpon@yahoo.com
(231-886-585875)


Forty schools in Montserrado County have begun battling in the 1st edition of the annual youth football tournament, dubbed ‘Milo U-13 Football Tournament 2012,” sponsored by Milo, a brand of Nestle. The first winner will bag US$1,000; the runner-up will receive US$700 and the third placer will get US$500.

According to the organizers, the preliminary stage is grouped into four zones with Slipway, VOA 1, D-Tweh and Stephen Tolbert fields being used, while the quarter-final stage will be played at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium (ATS) in Central Monrovia.

The preliminary stage, which began yesterday, will end on Friday, April 2, at the ATS.

Organizers also say that the winner of the 11-day Milo U-13 Football Tournament will represent Liberia in this year’s Milo Africa U-13 Football Tournament in Ghana, also taking place this month.

In the 2012 African U-13 championship, which will be hosted by Ghana, 8 teams will be representing Nestle –Milo brands in the participating countries.

“Liberia’s inclusion this year is an indication [that] Liberia [is] joining the bigger youth soccer development program of Nestle in Africa, as well huge winning prizes for the winning teams.

“Nestle is sponsoring the team that emerges champion in the competition [to] be the beneficiary of the tournament as the players will be camped for a time so that they will understand themselves before the Ghana 2012 African U-13 championship. We want to give a platform to Liberian students to see that their ambitions are realized,” he said. In all, teams will come from South Africa, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Mauritius, Ivory Coast and Niger,” Mr. Aboubacar Camara, Business Development Manager, Nestle (Liberia) said.

Mr. Camara told reporters that the company has decided to extend the frontiers of sponsorship of sporting activities to football in order to develop the game. He reiterated the company’s commitment to the development of young people through sports and academic pursuits.

He stated that the product ‘Milo’ is no stranger to sports with the primary reason being its benefit as a energy supplement to the body. Nestle’s focus has always been to encourage and support initiatives at the grassroots level, and they view the tournament as one such program that will assist in pointing young players towards a more rewarding future in the game.

During the official kick-off of the Milo U-13 Football Tournament 2012 yesterday in Monrovia, the Director of Sports at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Navaro Saykie, said that the gesture was to ensure that Liberian children get to enjoy what children in other countries enjoy. This will offer students the opportunity to give back to the society this time through sports, he explained, but added that Nestle has been supporting outstanding academic achievements and other areas deemed beneficial to the development of society as a whole.

However, when contacted, the President of the Liberia Football Association (LFA) Musa Bility, stated that he is not aware of the ongoing tournament and the local football governing house will take “serious exception” to the representation of Liberia in any international football tournament without the technical guidance of the LFA.

He also told our reporter that when he (LFA boss) contacted the Minister of Youth and Sports, S. Tornorlah Varpilah, on the tourney, he too, indicated that he is not aware.

The tournament is organized by Milo, in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Inter-School Sports Association (ISSA).