Tournament is well-known annual event in region

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco School in Bharoul, Nepal, hosted the 7th Don Bosco Inter-School Football (soccer) Tournament during the first two weeks of October. The competition brought together 400 youth and hundreds of fans.

A Salesian said, “The tournament, which started in 2015, is a well-known annual event in the region, bringing unity and collaboration among the schools in the area.” The matches are held in two categories, high school and higher secondary school. The event also featured a cultural program and a prominent local personality as the main guest.

Don Bosco School and the neighboring Morning Star School, also run by the Salesians, provide students with a quality education. There are five Salesians who serve in this combined community. The schools are part of the nine Salesian communities in Nepal that have been serving there for the past 31 years.

“Sports programs, like these tournaments, are important for teamwork, communication, respect and team spirit,” said Father Timothy Ploch, interim director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Learning and playing team sports encourage leadership skills as well as teach youth to work as part of a team. Students also learn important social skills and have opportunities for growth and maturity.”

Salesian missionaries arrived in Nepal in the 1890s and started a secondary school in Siddhipur, a village in the Lalitpur district. Today there are 20 secondary schools and nine Salesian centers in the central-eastern and far western regions of the country. Salesians provide education and social development programs to aid poor youth and their families.

Nepal is among the least developed countries in the world, with about one-quarter of its population living below the poverty line. Salesian missionaries are still hard at work with long-term reconstruction efforts after a devastating 7.8 earthquake struck Nepal on April 25, 2015, with a second striking on May 12, 2015.

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Sources:

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ANS – Nepal – The 7th “Don Bosco” Inter-school Football Tournament attracts four hundred young footballers

Salesian Missions – Nepal