Africa TV One Blog

More Liberian Community Video

The History

The Liberian Old-Timers Sports Association of Atlanta was founded in 2006 by Liberians residing in

Metro Atlanta. The aim of the association is to support social activities and undertake meaningful projects that will improve the community.

Four years later, a marked progress has been recorded with the association getting fully involved with community oriented activities, one of the chief reasons for its establishment.

The idea to establish the association followed a year of summer training session in 2005 at the home of Lauramae Gabbidon. Ms. Gabbidon was very generous to allow the group to conduct regular training sessions among themselves at her home.

The formation of the group also follows the successful hosting of two crowd pulling tournaments during the summer of 2006.  That competition featured players representing the various Liberian counties.

At an impromptu election which was conducted after one of the training sessions in September 2006, the group elected Gratis De Bong as their first President. They also elected Hassan Kiawu (in absentia) as Secretary General and the only female Ora Scott as Financial Secretary.

However, within a month into his new post, President Gratis De Bong resigned citing lack of cooperation from the members. Through a by-election, Gratis was replaced with Leon Gerring as President and Prince Mensah as vice President.

After two months at the helm, the Presidency was again in jeopardy as Leon Gerring relocated to seek other pastures. The association then overwhelmingly appointed the Vice President, Prince Mensah to ascend to the vacant post while, Harriet Swaray was voted as Vice President. Their administration gained recognition from the community after it staged a series of events including fund raising efforts and mobilizing support for the Walter B. Skinner candidacy for President of the Liberian Association of Metropolitan Atlanta, during the 2007 elections.

Prince relinquished the presidency prompting elections for a new corps of officials in November 2008. James O. Davis was declared the winner.  The elections brought on board Levee Moulton as Vice President, Harriet Swaray as Secretary General, Rushfort Tozay as Social Secretary, Mrs. Betty Wright as Treasurer and Sylvester Bassey as Chaplain.

During James Davis’s first year in office, the organization participated in the annual nationwide Friends and Supporters of Liberian Basketball tournament held in Maryland. The administration held a Christmas party for kids on Saturday, December 12, 2009. The association obtained the rights to host the fourth edition of the tournament schedule to be held in July 2010.  The 2010 annual Memorial Day legend soccer tournament organized by former Liberian national team and first division players will be hosted by Old-timer Association of Georgia.

Message From The President

On behalf of the officers and members of the Liberian Old-Timers Sports Association of Georgia, I want to welcome all of our friends and to say thank you for making this occasion a significant one.

We want to congratulate the honorees, whose dedication and examples should inspire others to serve and achieve. The significance of this program is the realization that amongst us, we have ordinary people who aspire to extraordinary achievements.

I also want to congratulate and thank our officers and members for remaining steadfast in upholding the ideals of this organization. For, a group of individuals that started out “just to have fun”, we have evolved into an organization that realizes our social responsibility to the community in which we reside.

In an attempt to carry out this responsibility, we have hosted Christmas parties for children of the community twice over the last three years. We have involved ourselves with our community association, the Liberian Association of Metropolitan Atlanta (LAMA) in addressing issues in our community as well as our homeland, Liberia.

We have also partnered with other organizations such as the Liberia Friends of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, The Carter Center and, the Friends and Supporters of Liberian Basketball (FSLB) that are involved in humanitarian work in Liberia. In the not-so-distant future, we plan to embark on direct humanitarian projects in Liberia, the ground work for which is underway.

As we look to fulfill our responsibilities, we cannot express enough how important the support and involvement of our friends will be. We will avail ourselves to our community association and all organizations that promote positive endeavors in our community.

As we move forward into the New Year, let us resolve to work cooperatively within our organization and within our community to make this year better than the previous one.

The Awards Night “New Year’s Day, 2010″

J Dawala & Lydia Hutchinson of Africa TV One

Liberian Old-Timers Sports Association of Atlanta at a glance:

Like many organizations before it, the Liberian Old-Timers Sports Association of Georgia has since its founding in 2006 been involved in numerous community development initiatives in Georgia. These initiatives have led to collaboration between the association and the community association on one hand and various other organizations on the other.

A year after its formation, the Old-Timers immediately embarked on several fund raising efforts in the community. They include a sip party during Christmas in 2006. That was followed by several other activities such as Fish Fry and food sale. These fund raisers were often staged along side three-on-three basketball tournaments among members and other members of the community. These efforts drew capacity crowds from many walks.

The association also organized several basketball tournaments at the Boys and Girls Club in Norcross between Liberia’s traditional rivals Mighty Barrolle and Invincible Eleven. In 2007 and 2008, the association participated in the Friends and Supporters of Liberian Basketball (FSLB) annual tournaments which were staged simultaneously across many states in America by former Liberian basketball stars. FSLB is a non-profit organization established few years ago by Liberian basketball legends living in America to provide support to the parent body, the Liberian Basketball Federation to improve the sport in Liberia.