08/29/2023
Thanks for the reminder Book Stewart And continued success NorrisTennis Initiative. I don’t even remember what year this was written but it was about 10 years ago atleast
Penned by book for Front page Africa
Norris works at the Peace Café in Johansen, downtown Monrovia. The Café is owned and operated by Barkue Tubman. Like its name, Peace Café was opened to celebrate a decade of peace in Liberia and more important be a catalyst for sustained peace through youth employment and empowerment.
Norris A. Ben is a teenager who knows what he wants. At 20, he ranks fourth in the country in tennis. He has represented Liberia at a couple of international tournaments even one in honor of then Ivoirian president Laurent Gbagbo.
Norris’ story is akin to that of many Liberian youths. Born on January 2, 1993, he comes from a family of eight. With barely enough to land on the table, his parents asked his uncle to take him in. For Norris, it seems that his prospects were brighter but unknown to him; his uncle has ten children and was barely getting by with them.
He soon turned his passion to sports as a respite for his struggle. “I started playing football but I realized it wasn’t helping me pay my tuition so I switched to tennis because unlike football, whenever I leave the tennis court, I always have something in my pocket.” The players that utilizes the court tips the young guys that play with them.
Despite earning little cash at the court, he always had his eye on the prize: education. That prize however seemed illusive until he met Barkue Tubman, CEO of Miss Boss Lady Ent. (MBL Intl Group). Tubman had recently relocated home from the United States. However with ties still in the US, She travelled a lot back and forth as she was also in the process of setting up her event planning, Marketing and Entertainment company in the country.
It was a sunny day as Norris, or NAB as he is affectionately called, and friends slammed the tennis ball from one end of the raggedy court to the other end with their rackets. Their game came to a momentary halt when a Land Rover SUV drove in near the court. Disembarking the vehicle was Ms. Tubman, then an inexperienced player, in a pink skirt with the Nike symbol embroidered on it and a matching Nike sneaker. Donning a blue cap and designer sunglasses, (I knew it was that because she makes a big fuss about all her different glasses all the time), her hair cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall.
“Maybe it’s one of the Williams’ sisters,” he thought as his young mind wondered who it was. That thought was quickly erased from his mind when he annihilated the professional looking lady in a match. “Then she couldn’t play as well as she plays now. So it was easy for me to beat her,” he said.
Unknown to him, he had also struck a chord on the young entrepreneur: She admired the speed, agility and skillfulness in handling the racket and the ball. Impressed by this worthy opponent’s professionalism and tennis court hospitality, she handed him $10 USD for good game and in a country where most people live of less the $2 a day that was a major gesture for young Norris. “Norris has a humbling attitude, a boyish charm and is extremely respectful” Says Tubman. He immediately began coaching Barkue and helping her work on her tennis skills. It’s become a known fact on the court to date; Norris is Barkue’s son.
" NAB is a phenomenal young man, a extremely above average Tennis Player who feels there's no real chance of realizing his tennis dreams, like many young Liberians in many fields, was more than just a kid on the tennis court to me. He is attentive, encouraging and anxious to get more out of life if he knew where to turn," says Barkue Tubman, CEO of Miss Boss Lady Ent.
Proving that he is indeed a worthy opponent, Norris beat Ms. Tubman at a mixed double tournament organized by MBL Intl Group to promote the sport and to showcase the young talented Liberians who play for various reasons and have great talent but no real support. This time his playing mate was Mrs. Idella Cooper-Shannon, the beautiful wife of ex-footballer Musa Shannon and good friend of Ms Tubman. This time, they (Norris & Idella) came fourth.
Seeing the potential in Norris, Barkue gave him an offer he could never refuse: to work with her company during his summer and Christmas breaks and he became the recipient of the MBL scholarship. And since then, Norris has never looked back. Norris still trains Barkue whenever she is on the courts; he now also works after school for Peace Café.
“Because of my relationship with sis Barkue and her MBL team I have been opportune to meet celebrities, diplomats even our President. The support from Boss, as he affectionately calls her, has exposed me to more then I could ever dream off. And I am forever grateful."
For Ms. Tubman, Norris is more than just a scholarship recipient. "... He is family. He is what happens when children and youth are given a fighting chance. And we intend to see him go all to way. I remember NAB and I discussing his college options. He says I want to go to UL so I asked do you know how to use computers? He says I know face book. I quickly shut the college dream down and said before you enroll you must be properly equipped with that basic computer knowledge. I’m of the belief; give a kid an email address, basic computer knowledge and access to Internet and you’ve given them a world of possibilities. My focus is to expose young Liberians to alternate career options and afford them the same opportunities and allow them to see possibilities in whatever their dreams may be, so they can dream just as big as other kids in the world and achieve them."
A prospective graduate from high school this year, Norris is about to enroll at the Starz Institute of Technology. He hopes to become a geologist someday.
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