Friday Mar 29

The Edmond Michael Foundation Story

Supplement

Compiled by sierraleonefootball.com The Edmund Michael Foundation Story



Edmund Michael Foundation boys in training (Photo credit: Edmund Michael Foundation)

Sierra Leone is lucky to be currently experiencing growth in youth football with special emphasis on how to use the beautiful game as a tool to help children become more educated.

The Craig Bellamy Foundation (CBF) which is running a football Academy owned by the Liverpool Welsh star Craig Bellamy has been the strongest and most popular campaigners with very strict rules in an attempt to maintain the accurate ages of participants in their leagues.


 

Rodney Edmond Michael founder of the Edmond Michael Foundation


 
However, the Edmond Michael Foundation, based in Bo City, Southern Region, founded by Rodney Michael, Sierra Leone's leading football philanthropist and one of the most popular and highly revered football administrators in Sierra Leone, is worthy of special commendation.
 
 
The foundation currently has five categories with each officially having 30 registered players. It is a requirement for all members of the foundation to attend University or school regularly and there is a monitoring team to ensure such.
 
 
Those that have left school are entitled to enrolment at a computer school to learn the basics with the support to pursue further. This privilege is also extended to all Technical and Administrative members of the foundation. All members of the foundation are entitled to medical support at the Dr Yilla’s private clinic in Bo and if necessary, will be provided further medical attention.
 
 
The various categories are;
 
 
Senior Team: The Senior team is registered with the Bo District Football Association and Southern Region FA as a Division 2 team with 30 players between the ages of 17 years and 24 years. It is currently the most feared Division 2 team in the Region and is currently preparing for the regional qualifiers to the division one league.

 

Photos courtesy Edmund Michael Foundation


 
The U 16 Team: The U 16 team, also with 30 registered players, is currently preparing for the Airtel U-17 rising star tournament respected for allowing only the correct age group of players in the country to take part in the competition.

Photos courtesy Edmund Michael Foundation

 
 
The U-14 and U-12 Teams: These two categories have 20 registered players officially with the CBF League with an extra 10 players in each category waiting for their opportunity. The U-14 side are currently leading their group in the CBF League in Bo whilst the U-12 team can boast of having the youngest players in the entire competition with an average weight of less than 30 KG and under 11 years.

Photos courtesy Edmund Michael Foundation

 
 
Girls U-12 Team: The foundation has been able to acquire willing girls at primary and lower secondary school categories to be part of this category and though difficult to organise matches for them, yet the foundation is currently providing a lot of support and sensitising the parents on the importance of the girls’ participation.
 
 
The foundation was established on 4th April 2011 and is preparing to celebrate its one year in existence. The founder and proprietor, Rodney Michael, has been totally responsible to fund the foundation.
 
 
This includes educational support to as many as 70 people in the foundation for 2011/2012 academic year with the intent that everyone
should enjoy such facilities for the 2012/2013 schooling year.
 
 
Intent of the foundation: Michael says he decided to set up the foundation to pay back to his community by helping in his own way to develop the youth.
 
 
Michael said: “I always wanted to pay back to my community and because of my belief that the future of football, like everything else in our society, is in the hands of youths, I decided to put so much of my time, energy and resources as an investment in the very young, and in so doing to help them become educated using football as the incentive. I am happy that we are succeeding and the school attendance is on the
rise every month.”
 
 
He added “I have put so much resources in football over the last 25 years and this time I thought it would be best to put it in a structure for the future, and since Bo District has been very good to the Michael Family over the last 120 years, there was no hesitation in establishing it and investing so much so far.
 
 
In total we were provided with adequate proof that over Le 100,000,000/00 (one hundred million Leones), about USD $ 22,500, has so far been spent on the foundation which boasts of five coaches.”

But Michael has pointed out that without partnership the growth of the foundation will not be secured and he could struggle along the way with funding the foundation.
 
 
He disclosed that there are negotiations on the way to receive sponsorship and partnership and promised that all support will be disclosed for public knowledge.
 
Michael is currently attending the two-day European Football Forum in Manchester in the UK which ends on 29th March 2012.
 
 
Michael says he's hoping to meet with some International Clubs with the hope of forming strong partnership which could lead to providing opportunities for the special football talents to do trials at the clubs.
 
 
He's also hopeful that his trip to the UK could help some partnership with manufacturers of sporting equipment. He further stated that he has already requested quotation from a leading company for essential training equipment and footballs in particular to help improve the special skill of the players in his foundation.
 
 
In concluding, Michael suggested that his greatest satisfaction would be to produce players for the different categories of the Sierra Leone national teams.