The President of the Liberia National Olympic Committee (LNOC), Mr. Clemenceau B. Urey, wants the National University Sports Federation (NUSF) through its technical committee to form All National University Teams from the various universities that participated in the 2003 National University Games.

     He said the teams must be drawn from the disciplines of football, basketball, volleyball and athletics. He made the assertion recently during the closing ceremony of the 2003 National University Games.

     The LNOC boss said all around the world, athletes are drawn from the universities to represent their countries at the Olympic level as well as other international competitions. “This is the main reason we organized the National University Games, to spot potential athletes who will represent Liberia at international competitions,” Mr. Urey said.

     He added that once the All National University Teams are formed from the disciplines of football, basketball, volleyball and athletes, they could begin to train once or twice a month in preparation of the World University Games slated to be held in South Korea this year.

     The National University Sports Federation (NUSF) has received an invitation for Liberia’s participation in the world games. They have agreed in principal to participate, according to their President Kadalah Kromah.

      Commenting on the potential talents that were discovered during the games, Mr. Urey said he was not that surprised because he knows there are lot of talented athletes in Liberia, but only needed to be spotted, developed and promoted.

      “We must take advantage of the World Games this year to expose those athletes that will be selected on the All National University Teams. We can start training by playing test matches against the various Lone Star teams in football, basketball, volleyball and athletics,” Mr. Urey noted.

      He said the NUSF must not drag the forming of the All National University Teams. “The talents that we saw during the 2003 games were great and need to be developed and promoted,” he emphasized.

     The objectives of the National University Games are to revive the spirit of competition amongst the institutions of higher learning; to contribute to the cycle of developing the body, mind and spirit through sports and to identify athletes who will represent Liberia at international competitions.

     Six Universities participated in the 2003 edition, namely the University of Liberia (UL), Cuttington University College (CUC), AME Zion University College (AMEZUC), AME University (AMEU), Don Bosco Polytechnic and United Methodist University (UMU).

      At the end of the games, the University of Liberia (UL) topped athletics by winning 14 medals, AME Zion University College won 13 medals, Cuttington University College (CUC) won 8, AME University won and Don Bosco won 5 medals, while the United Methodist University (UMU) won 4 medals.

     As far the other disciplines are concerned, the UL won the male basketball and football trophies, while CUC won the female volleyball trophy, AMEZUC won male edition and Don Bosco won the female basketball trophy.
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