By Barrie Alpha

Football for A New Tomorrow FANT-Sierra Leone on Friday, 3rd May 2024, commenced its annual distribution of football equipment which includes balls, assorted footwear and pumps to 10 communities at their 10 Percival Street Office in Freetown.

Eight communities: Wilberforce, Aberdeen, Hill Station, Lumley, Goderich, Congo Town, Kroo Bay, Susan Bay in Freetown, along with two communities, Masorkoh and Rogbesseh, in the Magbroka Chiefdom in Tonkolili District, who formed FANT’s project annually, received football equipment from the organisation.

Presenting 30 balls, 80 foot-wear and a pump to each of the eight communities based in Freetown, Richard Jimmy, FANT-SL’s Country Director, affirmed that every year they receive a 40ft container loaded with footballs, assorted footwear, jerseys, pumps and handballs from their partners in Denmark, which they distribute to all the 10 communities and other partners.

He disclosed that the Handball For A New Destiny (HAND) project, Disable Network Sierra Leone (DISNET)/Flying Stars Amputee Football Organisation and other friendly organisations are all beneficiaries of the equipment from Denmark.

According to FANT’s Finance Manager Bob Rogers, they have over 1500 balls which will be distributing to all the communities and other partners.

He continued that each community will receive 30 balls, 80 foot-wear and a pump for a period of four months, and that two more presentations will be done on two occasions.

‘We have the Single Leg Amputee Football in Bo, Kenema, Makeni and Freetown, with DISNET.  We will be calling on them by next week. For the HAND project, we have handballs that we will provide to them all,’ Rogers assured.

For his part, Mamadu ‘Atto’ Bah, FANT-SL’s Project Coordinator, admonished the beneficiaries to use the equipment for their intended purposes, appealing to them to make sure that they involve the community stakeholders in all their activities because the project is to the various communities.

Coach Alhaji, the Head Coach of FANT-Kroo Bay, expressed his gratitude for the continuous support from FANT-Sierra Leone. He emphasised that they have been receiving football equipment annually since the organisation’s establishment in 2012, which has significantly contributed to grassroots football development in his community.