Monrovia – Liberians will this Saturday, April 27, 2024, gather in their numbers at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex in Paynesville City to cheer their counties of origin as the national county sports meet reached its quarter-final stages.
By Christopher C. Walker
The preliminary rounds of the delayed National County Sports Meet came to an end on Saturday at the four separate venues, namely Sanniequille in Nimba County, Fish Town in River Gee County, Kakata in Margibi County, and Monrovia in Montserrado County.
Out of the four host counties, Margibi County is the only county that didn’t make it to the quarter-finals in both kickball and football.
Eight teams, after three rounds of matches in both kickball and football, have qualified for the quarter-finals that are expected to display quality football and kickball.
In football, the teams that will showcase their talents in the last eight are Lofa, Bassa, River Gee, Nimba, Bong, Grand Gedeh, Montserrado, and Bomi Counties.
While in kickball, the counties that have qualified for the quarter-finals are Nimba, Rivercess, Bomi, and Gbarpolu, Lofa and Grand Bassa, River Gee and Grand Gedeh counties.
The quarter-final stage of the competition on Saturday will witness a spectacular display in both kickball and football from the eight quarterfinalists.
In the football showpiece, high-flying Group A winner, River Gee County, will line up against Bong County in the day’s first match, while defending champion Nimba County will have a tough match against Grand Gedeh County in the last match.
Nimba made it to the last eight on the last day of the preliminary round following a convincing 3-1 win over Rivercess County, while Grand Gedeh defeated Maryland County 3-2 on the last day of the preliminaries.
On Sunday, April 28, the boys from Grand Bassa County will take on the city boys of Montserrado County at 2 PM. After that battle, the entertaining Bomi County will knock boots with the highly motivated Lofa County at 4 PM.
Meanwhile, the organizers of the competition, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, say there will be no basketball version of this year’s event due to limited financial support to the counties.
In the third match, Sinoe County and Grand Kru will come face to face at 3 PM, and the last match will bring Montserrado and Bong neck to neck at 4 PM.
The County Meet is Liberia’s biggest sporting event, and the delayed 2023/2024 edition kicked off Sunday, April 14, 2024, at the four host venues.
The preliminary round ended on April 20th across the host venues with eight teams reaching the quarterfinals.
The annual sports festival aims at uniting the people of Liberia and is played among the 15 subdivisions of the country.
Its objective is to scout talents for the various national teams of Liberia, and such objectives are key to sports development and peace promotion.
The County Meet was first organized in 1956 to unify the country, and this year’s edition commemorates 200 years as a nation.