It’s been nine months since the 2014 Milk Cup drew to a close, which has allowed plenty of time for the Craig Bellamy Foundation (CBF) to reflect on their experience at the tournament. The Milk Cup caught up with the first side from Sierra Leone to complete at the competition, who travelled over 7,000 miles to Northern Ireland.
First, a bit of a history lesson. The Craig Bellamy Foundation was founded following a visit from the former Welsh forward who twice appeared at the Milk Cup with Norwich City and Wales. In a country beset by poverty, minimal education and healthcare, Bellamy saw a huge amount of potential. He decided to develop an academy of excellence to use football to inspire positive personal and social change amongst the children of Sierra Leone. Today, the CBF League offers 2,000 boys and girls around the country the opportunity to combine football with education, whilst the CBF Academy offers 5-year scholarships to children who live, study and train at their facilities in Salone. The goal is to produce footballers who are not only talented but well-rounded, inspirational role models. If that’s not enough to deal with, CBF also work actively to improve governance in African football – in improving selection procedures, removing violence and corruption from the game and reducing exploitation of young African players.
Last July, a team from the CBF made the trip to Northern Ireland to compete at the Milk Cup, stopping off in London en-route for a warm-up match with Fulham and an audience with Sir Trevor Brooking. The first official Milk Cup duty upon arriving on the North Coast was the traditional parade through Coleraine, fondly remembered by Santos and Mohai from the squad. “The parade was unbelievable, with people shaking hands with us on what was our first day in Northern Ireland. It was really motivating, and the people loved our dancing!”.
The side played five matches during the week, coming up against Partick Thistle, eventual finalists Vendee, County Down, Bohemians and Californian side OC Blues. Players Issa and Ibra spoke of the challenges faced on the pitch – “All the teams were similar in terms of size and the type of football they played – they played long balls as we have so many short players”. The small stature of the players compared to their Western counterparts is a result of protein deficiency after the Civil War in Sierra Leone – a stark reminder that the challenges off the pitch for the CBF players are far greater than those on it.
So what did the boys from West Africa think of their trip to Northern Ireland? According to Barrie and Agha, “It was an amazing experience. We saw beautiful buildings and roads and the like. It was the greatest experience of our lives.” Teammates Issa and Ibra add their positive feelings from their time – “We have a lot to remember, and I would say I was most proud to see people shaking our hands and asking us to sign their shirts and programmes. In particular, the cook in Ulster treated us like kings – we hope God will bless them all!”.
Times have been tough in Sierra Leone in the past year. Alistair Bond, the team’s manager spoke of the impact that the Ebola crisis has had on daily life there. “We’ve been on complete lockdown. Some of the boys have not seen their families in 9 months. We also lost all of our international staff, leaving me as the only non-native staff member. We’re not involved in the Milk Cup this year as we’ve been unable to get the funding and Ebola has frankly made all the logistics difficult. However, we’d love to come back next year with our younger generation”.
Against such a challenging backdrop and less than 10 years after forming, the CBF is not only helping to educate and develop young people in Sierra Leone but is producing talented footballers, opening doors that would be unimaginable without the support the Academy provides. “We have continued to send boys all over the world,” Alistair adds.
“One of the boys (Mustapha Bundu) who went on the trip is now at college in Hartpury in Gloucestershire. He is turning out for the England Schoolboys and scoring loads. We also got confirmation that we have been offered three 4-year scholarships at two different schools in California, and recently sent three of our older boys to play professional football in Asia for Phnom Penh Crown.”
The Craig Bellamy Foundation were one team amongst over 50 at last year’s Milk Cup yet one feels that the impact the team had on those they met, and the impact that the tournament provided for the African side are far-reaching, and go much further than football. If you want to find out more about the Craig Bellamy Foundation or contribute towards building a better future for children in Sierra Leone, you can simply drop by their website at www.craigbellamyfoundation.org
Are you are budding sports journalist, or keen to join the Milk Cup’s reporting team? We’re looking for volunteers to help cover the 100+ matches during the tournament and keep supporters across the globe informed. If you’re interested, please contact graememcclure@gmail.com