Tabella FC (The Team) Television Series in Liberia

The Tabella FC series follows the story of Martha Sonie, a wealthy Liberian woman who returns to Liberia from the United States. Her goal is to raise her spoiled son Bryant to be a better person. When Bryant joins the local football team, he must learn to interact with his new teammates Yassah and Koa who come from very different backgrounds. Together the threesome must learn to overcome their differences if they want to win the championship.

Written and produced by Liberian artists, the show's name "Tabella" refers to Liberians’ affectionate term for football. Through its entertaining and simple story, the programme is designed to hold a mirror up to Liberian society, and calls on all Liberians to live up to young peoples' hopes and dreams for a brighter and more cooperative future. The show was produced as part of SFCG's overall goal in Liberia to build an inclusive society where political reforms translate into real gains for ordinary people.

According to SFCG, all of The Team series uses popular culture to communicate positive messages. Using an "edutainment" medium, the drama promotes co-existence and connects with a broad and diverse audience otherwise hard to reach. The series portrays positive role models and young people taking responsibility for their actions. In rural areas where TV is not accessible, mobile cinema screenings are set up for public showings, followed by moderated discussions.

Conflict Resolution, Youth, Sport

The series is the first of SFCG's work in Liberia to use television, building on its Talking Drum Studio initiative, which engages with local radios to encourage speaking out for peace and understanding. According to SFCG, Talking Drum Studio has built a national audience with its nine regular weekly programmes that address governance, reconciliation, and conflict issues. A listener survey found that 83% of respondents with broadcast coverage had listened to TDS programmes.

The multi-national The Team television series is designed to address divisive issues facing societies in a twelve African, Asian, and Middle Eastern countries. Each production of The Team follows the characters on a football team who must overcome their differences – be they cultural, ethnic, religious, tribal, racial or socio-economic – in order to work together to win the game. All of the series are created and produced locally. Actors and scriptwriters who have experienced violent conflict and divisions firsthand are drawn from local populations in countries like Kenya, Morocco. and Cote d’Ivoire. Local production companies and technicians take the lead, with additional technical assistance and support from Common Ground Productions.