Ten years ago the Holy Orthodox Christian Mission, led by Rev. Father Themistocles Adamopoulos, was established in Sierra Leone. Among other charity services, a small clinic was founded in Waterloo with the goal of providing free medical attention to more than 600 children, orphans and a community of disabled people.
Due to the generous donors of Orthodox Christian Mission Centres and Paradise4Kids, all services and treatments are free of charge. This project has grown into something remarkable: Two clinics, in Freetown and Waterloo, serving a wide range of people. As of March 2019, more than 3,000 consultations have been made.
Speaking to Premier Newspaper, Mr. King David Koroma, the liaison officer of the Orthodox Mission, said that the aim of the football club is to tap budding footballers in the long run and also they will benefit their communities and family. He said that as a young man who has been in youth football for several years now, he proposed the idea of setting up a football club with the Mission, and the Mission accepted, thus bringing about a football team which had been existence for the past two years now.
He said, “If only we put more effort on grassroots football Sierra Leone will rise again because during the days of ‘papa Jack’ and ‘Sibtub-Rovers’ since those days we are still using the same players for over 20-30 years now. So I am thinking if we don’t try to encourage grassroots football so that we can have more stars it will be difficult for Sierra Leone to reach higher height in football.”
He said that with the coming of the proposed academy, the Government should make a plot of land available for the Mission so that it could develop it to meet international standard which would match other football academies in Africa.
He added that the academy will help the kids greatly as there will be schools, a church and other recreational facilities.
“We have the money right now to develop the site in a speedily manner, that is why we are calling on the government through the Ministry of Sports to help…,” he added.
He further said that as a football team they cater for u-10, u-12, u-14, u-15 and are also planning on setting up an u-17 team in the long run. He added that the proposed football academy will have the right facilities including a hostel.
He disclosed to this medium that they will be participating in this year’s u-15 competition scheduled to start soonest under the Western Area Football Association (WAFA). He informed that his expectation is high as his boys are in high spirit.
By Desmond Tunde Coker
21/01/2021. ISSUE NO: 7985