Ministry of Youth and Sports Launches 2026 Harold Emmett McGowan Upcountry Basketball Tournament in Nimba

Ministry of Youth and Sports Launches 2026 Harold Emmett McGowan Upcountry Basketball Tournament in Nimba

PAYNESVILLE CITY, LIBERIA — The Ministry of Youth and Sports will officially kick off the 2026 edition of the Harold Emmett McGowan Upcountry Basketball Tournament on Thursday, November 4, at the newly refurbished Floyd Tomah Basketball Gymnasium in Sanniquellie City, Nimba County. The competition will run through Saturday, November 7, 2026.

This year's tournament will bring together four leading high schools from Nimba and Bong counties to compete for regional basketball supremacy. The participating schools are Ganta United Methodist School of Ganta City, Nimba County; Tubman-Gray United Methodist School and St. Martin’s Catholic High School, both of Gbarnga City, Bong County; and St. Mary’s Catholic High School of Sanniquellie City, Nimba County, which will host the competition.

The tournament returns following its last edition in 2021, which was also held in Sanniquellie City and featured 12 high schools from across the region. In the championship final, Tubman-Gray United Methodist School defeated New Testament High School of Grand Bassa County to win the title.

Established in the early 1970s by Harold Emmett McGowan, an American Peace Corps volunteer and dedicated basketball coach who served in Liberia, the tournament was conceived as a grassroots sports development initiative to promote physical fitness, foster teamwork, and give young student-athletes in Liberia's rural and interior counties opportunities.

At a time when national sports development and infrastructure were largely concentrated in Monrovia and Montserrado County, McGowan championed decentralizing basketball by taking the sport beyond the capital and creating competitive opportunities for young people in the country's upcountry communities.

In recognition of his outstanding contributions to grassroots basketball development and youth engagement, particularly through his impactful work at Gboveh High School in Gbarnga, the competition was subsequently named the Harold Emmett McGowan Upcountry Basketball Tournament in his honor.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports reaffirms its commitment to promoting inclusive sports development, expanding opportunities for young athletes, and strengthening school-based sporting competitions across Liberia.

The Ministry therefore invites the general public, sports stakeholders, school authorities, basketball enthusiasts, and surrounding communities to turn out in large numbers and support the participating student-athletes as they compete in this year's tournament.