Sports for Change
Sport in the world today is not only for entertainment or business venture, it
is today a great unifying element. Such a unifier that fans from all aspects of
a nation or a world can gather in one location to celebrate. Our innovation is
in the use of sports and other recreational activities to provide social change
and holistic human development with assured participation of all through the
sports for all and by all ideas.
Youth Crime Watch of Liberia will, according to the limits of our resources,
create or assist training programs, leagues, tournaments, camps, and other
youth-related projects. The central target area of Youth Crime Watch of Liberia
Sports program missions will be places where youth and children are at a high
risk of danger from drugs, violence and crime. Our philosophy is that kids can
succeed in life no matter where they are raised, as long as they have positive
outlets to oppose negative ones.
The Idea Behind Our Sports Program
Despite our focus on sports, Youth Crime Watch of Liberia football Program is
not meant to build up generations of sport superstars, even though this is not a
bad idea. Our goal is to use sports, games of teamwork and fitness, to produce
generations of strong young adults, successful community leaders and youth
adovocators who know that crime, drugs and violence are not solutions to any
problem.
If one player in our sport programs can pursue his or her dreams at the highest
levels of a particular sport, we will certainly be happy and further provide all
support within our reach. But if our players can influence the next generations
for the improvement of their neighborhoods, we will have achieved a step towards
our goal.
The idea of using sport for change can work out well in Liberia since bulk of
the youth population, both male and female, have high interest in sports. For
example, young people will cover very long distances to emerge at the Samuel
Kanyon Doe Sports Complex to witness the Liberia National Soccer Team (Lonestar)
play. Whether or not the team will win, young people provide their utmost
support and love. This spirit of oneness, this energy of direction and sense of
purpose are all the motivational factors behind our sports program.
Whenever a young person joins a team, he or she is liable to obeying all of the
norms within the team if he wish to stay. This form of volunteer respect for
team members, the coach, the referee and even the fans is a worthy exercise to
take youth through. Afterall, they will be dealing with people from different
walks of life and if they can handle it, they would handle most scenarios in
their lives.
Remember that during a football game for instance, a player will:
- Obey the decisions from the referee
- Accept the substitutions that a coach makes
- Respect the captain from each team
- Listen to get help from and help others
- Celebrate when his team wins
- Be unhappy when his team loses
These pratices are all seen in real life. Learning by practicing real life
activities through sport that most youth love is a worthy challenge. At the end
of the day, we expect that they will implement what they learn.