By David S. Menjor,davidmenjor921@gmail.com
The Scott Tabi Group of Companies (STG) has begun recruiting young talents in sports, mainly football for proper education, development and subsequently, relocating them to Europe and in other parts of the world where the game of football is highly lucrative.
Recently, STG President, Professor Martin Scott Tabi told journalists that his mission is to re-brand the game in Liberia by producing a new generation of players reminiscent of the then George Weah Eleven.
“We are interested in bringing up a new team of George Weahs as players so that the image of Liberia in football is not washed away completely as we are already seeing,” Prof. Tabi said.
Over the weekend, the STG FC took on River Cess County team in a fitness test match, and emerged with a decisive 4-2 win.
“We began the piloting process of our football academy last year, and today, we are already at it. We have bought about 30 acres of land along the Robertsfield Highway to build a state of the-art football academy,” he said.
Prof. Tabi added that there will be academic education for all the players, who will succeed in meeting the criteria set by the company for its academy.
“We are testing a group of 40 young talents through training and good attitude grooming, who are from across Montserrado County for now, but it is our hope that when the right time comes, we will go to other counties to scout talents,” the STG President said.
He said that the STG has international support to make any disciplined, and well talented player in Liberia realize his dream of playing in Europe and anywhere else.
“We have contacts with teams in Guinea, Ivory Coast, England and Spain. All that is required of any player is to be focused on doing the right thing and be disciplined. We don’t condone any unruly behavior from any of the players or our staffs,” he said.
The STG has its offices in Avion, France; Ankara, Turkey; Cyprus, Greece; Yaunde, Cameroon as well as Abidjan, La Cote d’Ivoire, helping to elevate the living standards of people.
STG FC Captain Humphrey Gibson said he is pleased that he and his colleagues are receiving the full support of the Companies.
“Every player lives with a dream, mainly so when you are still at the lowest ebb of life. We believe that our team will produce more quality players, who will not only play for the national team, the Lone Star, but for clubs in other parts of Africa, Europe and many other areas where the game is valued,” Gibson said.
He said winning River Cess County 4-2 was not a surprise, because the STG team has done a lot more over the months as a team.
“We are not playing to go into tournaments like the first division or any other division leagues, but to become the best we can so that we will have the chance to travel out of Liberia and play for money and prestige,” Humphrey said.
Beyan K. Washington, Rivercess County former coach, and now coach for the STG FC, said he is happy that his boys are responding to the demands of Prof. Tabi.