By Ibrahim Karim Bangura (Tanko)

The euphoria of High school football in Sierra Leone was on hype but it seems to have been totally wiped out since 2010.

Even the penetration of high school students in the country’s major league, Sierra Leone Premier, came in the spotlight but the disco light went off so soon.

Young players like Musa Bangura of St. Edwards Secondary School had thrilled fans of his school premier league club, Old Edwardians, in recent past. We looked back into the lad’s fame in the past year and why has there been a stop of the boom in the game.

Fifteen-year-old Musa Bangura, a student of St. Edwards Secondary School, had received a standing ovation at his school after scoring the decisive goal for Old Edwardians Football Club against Diamond Stars in Kono.

The pivotal moment occurred on a February 28 in Kono, where Musa Bangura, an SS2 Commercial student, earned his place in the traveling squad for the match against Diamond Stars.

He was selected by Head Coach John Dominic Konneh then. Musa’s dazzling football skills and an exceptional performance led him being awarded the Man of the Match after securing the only goal of the game granting Old Edwardians the valuable three points at the Koidu City playing field.

Coach John Dominic Konneh expressed his delight at the time, “We are all delighted for Musa. He is a lively kid, and since he joined the squad, he has shown great quality. The whole squad is impressed with his attitude and dedication to learning and getting better every day.”

The Principal of St. Edward’s Secondary School, Mr. Fredrick Wyse, shared his joy over Musa’s performance, expressing the school’s commitment to nurturing young talents in sports while emphasizing the importance of academic excellence. But the nurturing the principal talked about couldn’t be seen on the pitches of Sierra Leone as the inter-secondary schools sport (soccer, atheletics, volley ball) have not been seriously played by schools across the country. Their near-collapse or entire extinction is caused by lack of finance and other logistical support by the country’s sports ministry to the schools’ sports divisions.

However, on the boy’s faint spell in football, Manfred Peter, the Assistant Team Manager of Old Edwardians Football Club, in recognition of the boy’s outstanding achievement, gave  Musa some money.

Mr Peter also the lad to continue to work hard and maintain a focus on playing both football and on getting education as he emphasized the two can go hand in hand.