By F. Momolu Dorley

Several dignitaries, who over the weekend officially launched the Duport Road sports impact project, affirmed their fullest support to the project.

Liberia Football Association (LFA) chief scribe George Williams, who served as chief launcher, lauded the organizers for the impact of the project.

Williams lamented that the project was a landmark for the young athletes of the Duport Road community.

He admonished the youths of the area to make maximum use of the opportunity.
On behalf of his Association, the LFA chief scribe pledged five footballs and promised that the LFA would always attend to the needs of the project once the need for such arises.

Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, Marbue Richards, also pledged his Ministry's commitment to the project. He admonished the kids to take their academic lessons seriously.

He appealed to the organizers of the tournament to include female sports in the project, noting that Liberia's new dispensation cannot be uttered with success if the gender gap is not eliminated.

District #10 Representative Regina Sokan Teah, for her part, said the project was yet another important drive taken to restore the dignity of the Liberian youth after years of turmoil.

“We welcome this project and I would always give my support to enhance it,” she said.

The project, which is targeting at least 60 youths, is a youth development one that has the key objective of building a generation of holistically-trained young people who recognize their potentials to have a career in sports or other opportunities for them to have productive lives.

Mrs. Korto Williams, the project administrator, noted that the detriment of the post-war conflict directly affected the youths of the country.

She disclosed that the program was a pilot project and would focus mainly on sports theory and practical.

Mrs. Williams added that in an effort to address the immediate needs of the youths, the project would include complementary activities in education, such as after-school programs and computer training.

Life skills, HIV/AIDS, conflict resolution, gender and women rights, she disclosed, had all been included in the project.

For his part, the program director Paye Kulah, who is based in the United States, was quoted in a dispatch accentuating that the goal of the program is to make a positive impact on the lives of the participants.