AFRICAN WORLD CUP

The 2009 African Cup of Nations was held Saturday August 8, 2009 at Corporal Townsend Park in West Brighton. Five African countries - Bokina Faso, Liberia, Cameroon, Madagascar and Guinea - participated in the tournament. The final game, between the teams from Guinea (Philadelphia PA) and Cameroon (Bristol PA) drew 0-0 in regulation. Guinea won with a 5-5 penalties kick.

Liberia (ROZA) lost to Guinea 1 - 0 in the first semi-final game and Madagascar (Trenton) lost to Cameroon in the second semi-final game.

Past cup winners are Sierra Leone in 2006, Liberia in 2007. There was no tournament in 2008 because of the start of the Liberian Soccer League which ROZA also organized.

In another entertaining part of the tournament, the ROZA kickball team defeated her Trenton rival team by 12 - 7 in a very exciting game. Two weeks ago, our female team also defeated Newark. The ladies are on fire. Thanks to general manager Rose Kotate B. for her great hard work.

UPCOMING EVENTS
Weekend of August 15: ROZA soccer team travels to Boston for tournament.
Weekend of August 22: ROZA soccer team travels to Philadelphia for another tournament.
Labor Day Weekend: Our kickball team hosts a mini tournament here on Staten Island

Thanks for your support. Our young people are having fun!

Rufus

Please note the following upcoming events:
• The African Cup of Nations – August 8 in Staten Island NY
• The Unity Games – August 23 & 24 in Coatsville, PA,

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Standings

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Contacts

Bristol FC - Papee @ 609-851-1027 or Thompson @ 267-408-1109
Kenya NJ - Benard @ 862-264-9283
Trenton FC - Jerry @ 609-227-9425 or Shannon @ 609-532-3013
United FC - Wleh @ 609-375-6435
Newark FC - Swaray @ 973-444-2250
ROZA - Fornatee @ 973-873-2035 or Rufus @ 347-819-6017

 

The Liberian Soccer League: Guidelines

Goal:  To organize a soccer league for and with teams around the New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania areas.

Objective / Description of league:  The league is to be on a home and away basis with teams playing one another. If there are 10 teams, then each team will have 9 other teams to play with a total of 18 games for the season. Games will be scheduled on the weekends with home teams responsible for set-ups. The conventional (FIFA) rules and standards will be applied to games.

Structure:  There will be administrative and technical units to oversee the operations of the league. These units will be responsible for registration of the league and acquiring all legal paperwork as well as insurance, registration of teams and players, inspection of fields, scheduling of games along with postponements or adjustments, fund raising, trainings & workshops, publicity and media relation and others.
In its infancy, I will suggest the following positions:

President, VP for Administration, VP for Operation, Secretary general, Treasurer,Technical Director and various working / standing committees

Benefits:   Teams participating in the league will enjoy growth in their organizations. “Coaches� and other administrators will be encouraged to attend seminars and workshops periodically for training and resource purposes. League officials will give support to teams, as needed, to build their capacity to compete and survive. We will be constant contact with colleges and leagues to come and see our program and games. As a unit, we will all have the opportunity to contribute to the development of soccer in our home land – Liberia.

Responsibilities of teams: In order for this idea to work, teams must be in full support and take on some responsibilities. I do understand that some teams will have to be mentored to reach to the level required to meet the up coming challenges. However, the following will be the responsibilities of teams:

1. Register your team (fee to be determined by all)
2. Recruit your players with 2 passport size photos each
3. Locate and secure a standard soccer field in your area (call if you need help)
4. Have the field fully ready for each game
5. Have contact information of a certified referee in your area
6. Provide security to visiting team 2 hour before, throughout and 2 hours after the game

 

Ladies and gentlemen, thanks for taking your time to read. I know that this is not a complete guideline of a soccer league. I am attempting to let you know what I am thinking about and to ask for your help in properly shipping the ideas that will lead to the formation of the LIBERIAN SOCCER LEAGUE.

As Liberians, we all know how much we fuss, how ready we are to fight for nothing and we spend hours destroying things people or ourselves built over some life time. We do not need to do any of the above to achieve our goal. This is not about power, money of recognition. It is about bringing a dream to reality.

If you are a person that has to be the leader of an organization before you can accept to be a part, please tell us early.  Or, if you will not support it because your friend is not the leader, please say so as well. If you will only join because it is for money making machine (which this is not), please let us know.

We are not prepared to get into senseless arguments confusions and time wasting. It will take a lot of work to reach to this goal. Let us please get ready to work together. You have something that we all can benefit from. Please share with love and care.

History

My own experiences:   

1.  I Founded ROZA in June, 1981 on 12th Street, Sinkor, Monrovia. ROZA is still alive in Monrovia as a second division team under the Liberian Football Association (LFA) (sitting out this season – will return in the 2008 season). ROZA won the LFA 2nd Division Championship in 2001.

2.  I Founded the Sinkor United Sports Association in 1982– SUSA, a LFA sub committee in Sinkor, Monrovia.

3.  A Founding member of Sinkor Defenders in 1984. Sinkor Defenders was a Second and later first division team in the Liberian Football Association’s league.  I served as manager and coach.

4.  1984 – 1986, I was an executive committee member (7 members in all) of St Joseph Warriors Soccer Team in Liberia. In those years, St Joseph came second place in the national 1st division league.

5.  Manager of Club Afrique 1991  to 1993 in the Hatian League in East Orange, New Jersey. Club Afrique was a combination of Liberian 1st division players based in the US and local talented ones. Club Afrique reached simi-finals in 2 of my 3 years.

6.  I organized Lofians on Staten Island to form the New York chapter of Lofa Association. Today, this association is highly functional and contributing to the national body of Lofa Federation in the Americas

7.  Established ROZA in New York in 1994. Our under 19 boys team won New York State Championship in 1996. ROZA had 7 soccer teams on Staten Island for boys and girls between the ages of 9 and 33 years old. We founded the first minority girls soccer team in the state of New York. Today, all except one girl on that  team from 2000 made it to college. Ten of the girls played high school soccer on Staten Island. One of the girls got full college scholarship as a goal keeper. All of the girls had no prior experience playing soccer.
ROZA established branches in Cleveland, Ohio; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Newark, New Jersey and Kansas City, Missouri.  Today, our Minnesota branch is still in full operation with the team winning 3 out of 5 state championships leagues.

In August of 2002 ROZA visited Buduburan refugee camp in Ghana to contribute to the development of sports there. We donated 14 sets of jerseys, six trophies, ten soccer balls, four basket balls and cash five hundred dollars ($500) to the camp authorities and ran mini tournaments involving soccer, basketball and kickball. Before leaving the refugee camp, ROZA organized two youth soccer teams and one kickball team. Today, the soccer program of ROZA on the camp remains still strong and is registered with the Ghanian Football Federation under the 3rd division category.

1. In 1999 ROZA opened the FIRST LIBERIAN CENTER in the state of New York. The center provided educational support, counseling, referral and other cultural support for Liberians on Staten Island. The US Department of Health and Human Services provided most of the funding for our programs.
2. In 2003, ROZA organized a kickball team in Monrovia and registered the team with the National Kickball League. Our girls were the national Champions in Liberia’s kickball league.
3. In 2006 ROZA  founded the first African Cup of Nations in New York State. In that same year, 10 countries participated with Sierra Leone winning the trophy and the cash prize of $500. In 2007, 12 countries participated with Liberia winning the cup with the cash prize of $500.

 

I thank GOD for our achievements and will like to take this time to say thanks to all those that contributed to the success of our organization over the past 26 years.
I am proud to say that we at ROZA are ready, experience and committed to see the Liberian League come to reality. Please accept it being centralized for the first season – just to make sure that things are in their rightful places in the early stage.