By Barrie Alpha
Following their recent success in winning the just concluded West Africa 2022 Zonal Beach Volleyball championship hosted in Banjul, Sierra Leone’s leading GSM operator, Africell, on Friday 23 September 2022 celebrated the Sierra Leone Volleyball Federation by presenting them with gold medals and cash prizes.
In early September, the Sierra Leone female duo of Maria G. Fofanah and Binta Bah showcased a stellar performance to win the West Africa 2022 Zonal Beach Volleyball championship in Gambia, after defeating Senegal by 2 straight sets (21:15, 21:15) and clinched the ultimate championship gold medals unbeaten.
In his welcome address at the company’s Wilberforce headquarters, Africell’s Head of Events and Sponsorship, Abdul Aziz Kamara, said they were there to celebrate the laurels that the Sierra Leone Volleyball Federation has been brining to Sierra Leone, adding that for those of them that have been following the journey of the Federation, they know these are not something new and prayed that they continue to bring glory to Sierra Leone.
Coach Sorie Kamara gave the background to the team performance in Banjul, stating that they travelled via road to and from Gambia with a lot of challenges.
In his statement, Africell’s Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Joe Abass Bangura, congratulated the volleyball federation for making Sierra Leone proud.
‘It’s easy to comment on things that are not working; we want use the same similar energy to celebrate what is working and that is why we would take this time to receive this team, congratulate, celebrate and make them a news item. It’s good news! We have to celebrate good news whenever it happens. We are thrilled; we are so pleased,’ he said.
He underscored that the journey has been long in the making as both parties signed an agreement back in 2009, emphasising how far they’ve come on this journey. ‘We want to say to the President, Ahmed Khanou and Coach Sorie who have been there that we are so pleased that your tenacity, your resilience, hanging in there making sure the name Sierra Leone stays on the map for volleyball. These are the stories we must tell; stories we must share. I want to emphasise that Africell will continue with this journey. You mentioned about the beach project and we will make that project continue. We will continue to support volleyball as we’ve been supporting various sporting organisations in the country,’ Bangura stated.
He furthered by lavishing praises on the players and also profiling them, adding that as a company they are very excited. ‘We are here today to celebrate your athletic intelligence, for you to go there and defeat Senegal it’s a big thing that we have to celebrate you; and you should not allow anyone to look down on you. As a company we celebrate you guys as the nation continues to make Sierra Leone proud. We want to say thank you; we recognise what you’ve done for this nation,’ the Chief Corporate Affairs Officer concluded.
In his brief speech, John Konteh, the Africell Media Manager, assured the Volleyball Federation that they are fast tracking the multipurpose facility at the beach. ‘Today we appreciate the players, the coaching staff. You will be presented with medals from Africell, although you are here with the medals that you won in that competition, but we want to add to that value by presenting to you special medals. In addition we want to present to you some token of cash as a support as well to say thank you for not only representing Sierra Leone but also for competing and for winning that competition. We know about the difficulties you went through to represent this nation. We want to say thank you as we are looking forward to you to go and represent Sierra Leone in other competitions and Africell would fully support the Sierra Leone Volleyball Federation to ensure that the representatives are on behalf of Sierra Leone,’ he affirmed.
For his part, the President, Sierra Leone Volleyball Federation, Ahmed Khanou, expressed his hearty thanks and appreciation to Africell, noting that sportsmen want money but beyond that they want to be recognised.
‘There is no amount of motivation that’s beyond being called in public and showered praises on you for what you’ve done. So we want to thank you very much for that, and in addition I want to say thank you for the support we’ve been getting over the years.
‘The National Volleyball Federation believe in the can do spirit. We can’t rely exclusively on one partner especially when government is the leading partner. We have to build relationship and maintain it because we believe that we have to create the platform for young people to exhibit their skills to show their intelligence; they have to become responsible citizens of this country and contribute to the national agenda. That is what we as a technical staff undertook to achieve,’ the Vice President Zone 2 Beach Volley continued.
‘We go out and search for the athletes; we build their capacity and send them to the world. It’s not a mistake that we are making the laurels that we do, it’s a dedicated platform. We did not come and achieve this overnight; we have to deliberately plan and prioritise our activities. We are proud of this and we look forward for further collaborations.’
He also proposed collaborating with Africell in November as they will be having the biggest volleyball competition in the country, a 24-national club volleyball championship at the Tennis Lawn at Hill Station in Freetown.
‘We do not see it as a sporting competition alone but as an opportunity to use young people who are directly affected by the outcomes of elections and of course the difficulties of governance they should be the agent of change to communicate, to educate their communities that we are still a single nation, never mind we belong to various political parties.
‘So we are looking for partners for that event. So let’s partner and inform the nation that this country is one community. Sports does have the power to educate people about responsible citizenship and competitions; and again, we are also looking forward to launching the beach volleyball facilities late this year or early next year and also we are looking forward to launch the 2024 Olympic Games,’ Khanou appealed.
The presentation of medals was done by Nancy L. Toure, Africell’s Assistant Media Manager, and Dennis Duah, Afrimoney Communications Manager.