SEJONA SPORTS FOUNDATION

“A healthy mind, in a healthy body.”- Juvenal.

Sejona Sports Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt nonprofit organization in New Jersey, USA.
Mission: To provide more opportunities for children and youth to be active via school and amateur sports, for the purpose of fostering physical, mental, character and social development, primarily in developing nations. We believe empowering children, through a means they also consider fun, will play an integral role in cultivating the next generation of leaders. We also aim to fund the development of basic youth sports facilities, such as soccer fields and basketball courts, for schools and communities in need.
www.sejonafoundation.org 

The foundation's initial country of focus is Ghana.
 
Unfortunately many children and youth around the world do not have the opportunity to participate in pee wee, pop warner, high school and collegiate sports leagues, thus sport is critically being underutilized as a youth development tool.  



Engaging in sports has proven to be physically beneficial in terms of its impact on muscle, heart, and overall health, thus aiding in the fight against obesity, diabetes, and hypertension.  It is also a great tool for social and character development, as it teaches about teamwork, sportsmanship, discipline, adherence to rules, honor, integrity, setting goals, working to achieve those goals, determination, perseverance, being graceful in victory and defeat, and instilling confidence and leadership skills. We also recognize how sports unites communities, and has the power to inspire generations. The sports world has given us some of the most influential individuals such as Muhammad Ali.

“We don't have physical education in my school.”—Isabella, a junior high student.

Sports also provides a platform for athletically talented youth to showcase their abilities, which in turn leads to more educational and economic opportunities for some. Our sports events will serve to increase the odds of talented participants obtaining scholarships to further their education. Moreover, education has proven to be the most powerful tool in combating poverty and developing students into more productive citizens.



Picture of a soccer field at a less fortunate school in Accra.  We look forward to partnering with this school in a positive way.

Background
The concept of the foundation was born when our founder/director, Seth Essien, visited Ghana after undergoing risky spinal surgery followed by 6 months of intense rehabilitation due to injuries resulting from a car accident.  His love for being physically active and sports heightened.  Upon visiting numerous schools and seeing the sad state of sports facilities, and at times lack thereof, he interacted with students and staff and realized sports was drastically being underutilized as a youth development tool. There were also very few sports competitions for schools.  The lack of youth sports leagues, as well as inter-school sports leagues was unfortunate, and critically children were getting an average of only 45 minutes of weekly physical education instruction in schools. He was shocked to further hear from some students that physical education wasn’t a subject at their school.  Seth, like our fellow directors Michael Troutman and Kamron Mitchell, benefited from engaging in youth sports leagues and high school varsity sports.  Two of them went on to have stints on the Brown University Men’s Track and Field Team.  These high school and university/college sports seasons lasted a few months each, which allowed time for development in that sport.




A small percentage of schools have impressive sports facilities.  We look forward to partnering with them also.


What we do:

-Fund and organize single-school sports activity days with the aim of having every able-bodied child participate in some capacity. 

-Fund and organize inter-school sports competitions for interested schools or school associations.
 
-Provide sports-related philanthropic support to schools and youth organizations via means such as providing sports equipment, and renting a suitable playing field for their use when necessary. Approximate cost of renting the stadiums in the cities of Cape Coast and Accra is $400 per day.
 
-Work closely with public and private schools, orphanages, and youth organizations to teach students the rules, objectives, and skills involved in different sports.
 
-Provide poor, distressed, and disadvantaged youth with the opportunity to learn and participate in sports for youth.



Words that come to mind when we think of sports: plan, train, practice, compete, execute, persevere, determination, achieve, improve, teamwork, inspire, develop, sportsmanship, team-building, communication, leadership, nutrition, physical fitness, discipline, and integrity.

Please donate to help us get children and youth more active, donate to help us inspire generations and bring communities together. 

“Our prime purpose in this life is to help others.”- Dalai Lama.

Observing children engaging in sports at some of the schools we look to parnter with.