As the National County Sports Meet gets under way in less than four days, the leadership of the Sports Writers Association of Liberia, yesterday, conducted a day-long training to enhance members’ capacity in providing coverage for the event.
The County Meet is the nation’s biggest traditional and political sporting event festival, where scores of Liberians from different backgrounds come around sporting facilities to endorse the sporting culture of the nation’s heritage and unite the people every year.
According to the Sports Writers Association, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, being the organizer of the sporting event, journalists are required to use their different platforms to inform the public about programs of national interest, which led to the cooperation between the two entities to have over 50 sports journalists refreshed on reporting sports in a more professional form and manner.
The training was held at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex in one of the conference rooms belonging to the Ministry of Youth and Sports. It was graced by representatives from the leadership of the ministry, stakeholders from the Liberia Kickball Federation, veterans of the Liberian media, and reporters from Rivercess, Margibi, Bong, Nimba, Grand Bassa, and Montserrado Counties, among others.
Speaking at the opening session of the exercise, the Deputy Minister for Sports, Andy Quamie, noted that the training concept’s intent was to have Liberian journalist knowing key aspects of their professional duties that had not been practiced over the years, and having them fully knowledgeable about the conduct of activities at the County Meet.
In a presentation on the rules of the game and roles of assigned officials at game venues, Quamie asserted that journalists are classified into different categories and their particular classifications as reporters, broadcasters, and photographers, determine the different areas of operation during the games.
He urged the media to work with the protocol that will be released by authorities and ensure the full implementations of security instructions, in order to avoid inconveniences among those that will be working at the national event for the common good of the country.
The Deputy Sports Minister, who has been a sport administrator for many years, explained that every competition has its own rules upon which officials are to act, and the capacity-building exercise of the members of the Sports Writers Association will enable journalists to provide quality information to the public and avoid misconceptions and speculations, as has been the case in the past.
“This training workshop was indeed important because most journalists do not know their roles, especially during the National County Sports Meet. They are seen around the perimeter at times when they have no business being there, and partnering with the Sports Writers Association to have some of these problems solved after many years will help the upcoming event,” he said at the training.
For his part, Christopher Walker, the Vice president of the Sports Writers Association of Liberia, lauded the Ministry for opening its arms to kick off a collaborative working relationship with the team of journalists covering sports in Liberia.
Walker said, once the journalists who are charged with the responsibility to disseminate the information needed to the public are not educated enough, the high level of ignorance will override their functions and cripple the delivery of the efforts that are exerted.
He urged the Association’s members to use the knowledge acquired from the training to professionally execute their duties and working with the organizing team of the National County Sports Meet, while calling on the Ministry of Youth and Sports to initiate more of said training in the future.
Some of the topics covered with key facilitators include interview and reporting by veteran journalist, Hassan Kaiwu, match commentary by Ben Garkpah, and the game of Kickball with its rules that were facilitated by the leadership of the Liberia Kickball Federation.
