Members of the National Scrabble Association of Sierra Leone over the weekend unanimously appointed Christian Asgill as the Association’s new President.
Speaking to the membership after his appointment Mr. Asgill pledged that his main aim is to include all crucial stakeholders who could contribute toward bringing progress to the Association.
He took a philosophical view of Scrabble at the national level and contended that ‘inclusiveness’ is the key to success, adding “with togetherness things will move faster. The only thing a person can ever really do is keep moving forward. Take that big leap forward without hesitation, without once looking back. Simply forget the past and forge toward the future.”
Asgill encouraged members to pay their monthly dues to keep the Association moving. “I want to see this more often… I want to see people take the responsibility and come out and try to come out and make sure we make decisions together, because that is how the Scrabble Association should be,” he admonished.
He revealed that he plans to change the face of scrabble and wants all the Associations’ members to work with him to do it. “When people speak of scrabble, it will come across as positivity and change the whole negative vibes that is behind it,” Christian added.
“Reviving scrabble clubs & setting up regional offices are all part of my plans, but it has to be collective responsibility to achieve that goal” Asgill emphasized.
When asked whether he intends to continue the Scrabble School project; he responded: “Why not? The school scrabble project is our main focus because if we are to succeed in popularizing the game our target should be the schools to encourage young boys and girls to play the game.” He further explained that the desire to have the games within the tertiary and university structures had been discussed at the level of the NSASL last meeting.
Mr. Asgill said that the level student interest is very high since they started school visitations, adding that principals have promised to give their full support in the Association’s strides towards popularizing the game in schools.
He also revealed that the teachers have recently commenced teaching programmes as part of their Sports Programmes and the gesture was indeed timely. “Most of the children confirmed their interest in playing the game,” he concluded.
By Desmond Tunde Coker
25/6/2020. ISSUE NO.: 7853