Sports are an important part of

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

an society and Football (soccer), Football is the most played sport in the country.

Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

are also common sports in the country. Sierra Leone became the first African country to join International Floorball Federation.

Football in Sierra Leone

Football (soccer), Football is by far the most popular sport in

. The Sierra Leone national football team, governed by the

Sierra Leone Football Association The Sierra Leone Football Association is the governing body of football in Sierra Leone. It was founded in 1960 (current association), and affiliated to FIFA the same year. It organizes and runs the national leagues, including the Sierra Leone N ...

, is popularly known as the Leone Stars and represents the country in international football competitions. Though the team has never qualified for the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

, they did participate in the

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

and

1996 African Cup of Nations The 1996 African Cup of Nations was the 20th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by South Africa, who replaced original hosts Kenya. The field expanded for the first time to 16 teams, s ...

Basketball in Sierra Leone

The Sierra Leone national basketball team represents

in international men's

competitions and is controlled by the Sierra Leone Basketball Federation. The squad is mostly home-based, with few foreign-based players.

Cricket in Sierra Leone

The Sierra Leone cricket team is the team that represents the country of

in international

matches. They became an affiliate member of the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are List of International Cricket Council members, 108 national associations, with 12 List of Internation ...

in 2002

They made their international debut at the 2004 African Affiliates Championship, where they finished last out of the eight teams. They returned at the equivalent tournament in 2006, Division Three of the World Cricket League Africa Region, African region of the

World Cricket League The ICC World Cricket League (WCL) was a series of international one-day cricket tournaments for national teams without Test status (i.e., teams of Associate status) administered by the International Cricket Council. All Associate Members of t ...

, where they had a major improvement, this time finishing as runners-up to

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

, and only just missing out on promotion to Division Two.

Scuba diving and sport fishing

Watersports and recreational activities in the recent years have brought about a dynamic presence of Scuba Diving and Sport Fishing. Historical shipwrecks can be explored in shallow waters while the vibrant aquatic life makes a colorful dive. The dense fish stock encourages anglers from around the world to try their luck with world record catches. The best area for scuba diving and sport fishing is

Banana Island Banana Island is an artificial island off the foreshore of Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria. Its name derives from the curvature of its shape. The island is a planned, mixed development with residential, commercial and recreational buildings. History ...

Yoga in Sierra Leone

As of 2014,

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

"is becoming increasingly popular," thanks to the efforts of an organization called "Yoga Strength" headed by Tamba Fayla, a former child soldier who has become "the country's first qualified yoga teacher".

Sierra Leoneans abroad

Many Sierra Leonean diaspora are involved in professional sports. Active Sierra Leonean diaspora include

Mohamed Sanu Muhammad was an Islamic prophet and a religious and political leader who preached and established Islam. Muhammad and variations may also refer to: *Muhammad (name), a given name and surname, and list of people with the name and its variations ...

of the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

and

Kei Kamara Kei Ansu Kamara (; born 1 September 1984) is a Sierra Leonean professional footballer who plays as a striker for CF Montréal of Major League Soccer. He is one of only eleven players to have scored 100 goals in MLS history, achieving the land ...

of the Colorado Rapids. Another prominent sportsperson is Madieu Williams. Williams, who was born in Sierra Leone in 1981, is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

starting

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

References

{{Sport in Africa