Monrovia — In an effort to promote sports and youth development across the country, President Joseph Nyuma Boakai extended his kind gesture to the youth community of Marshall City in Margibi County, by sponsoring its locally held County Meet.
The mini county meet, which was organized by the Marshall Sports Association, was held from July 22-26 under the theme: “Unifying the Youth of Marshall City Through Sports.”
At the climax of the five-day tournament, Lofa and Grand Bassa Counties won the most coveted prizes in football and kickball respectively.
The Lofians (natives of Lofa County), who trailed a goal down to Bomi just within the two opening minutes, came on level terms in the second period of the match with 18 minutes of regular time to play.
With the score at 1-1, both teams missed strings of chances to send the game to bed, and as such, the winner was determined in the penalty shootouts. Lofa eventually captured the gold medals, a giant-size trophy, a cash prize and a football after a 5-3 post-match penalty win.
Earlier on, Grand Bassa came from 6-0 homes down in the first inning to beat Montserrado County 10-8 in the kickball category.
Like Lofa, Grand Bassa was also given gold medals, a giant-size trophy, a cash prize and a football.
On the other hand, the second placed winners for both disciplines were also considered by the organizers and sponsor, and were awarded cash prizes.
As part of his contributions towards the grand finals, the Liberian leader also provided sets of jerseys for the finalists, captain armbands and footballs. Other supports included new goal posts with nets and corner flags.
The kind sponsorship of the finals by the Liberian chief executive brought life to the Marshall City Sports Pitch, as the matches were commentated live on one of the local community radio stations.