B/A and Greater Accra are champions of Airtel Rising Stars

The Brong-Ahafo and Greater Accra leading grassroots teams lifted the prestigious Cup of the 2015 edition of the nation's most competitive grassroots football talent hunting competition, Airtel Rising Stars, after going past their Northern and Ashanti Regional rivals in a fiercely contested grand finale at the Sunyani Coronation Park over the weekend.

Thee lads from Brong-Ahafo capitalized on being the host of this year's finals after failing to qualify from the zonal competitions but made amends to lift the coveted-trophy, beating favorites, Northern Region, by one goal to nil in an inspiring and electrifying atmosphere where the "B. A B. A" chants by the home fans did the trick for the homesters.

The Greater Accra ladies in the female division also defeated spirited Ashanti ladies 4-1 in a penalty shootout after both teams failed to break the deadlock in the two halves of the game.

The technical study team led by Ghana Football Association Technical Director,Francis Oti Akenteng aided by Airtel Rising Stars coaching ambassadors, E.K Afranie and Ibrahim on Sunday adjudged Sulemana Mohammed of the Brong-Ahafo team and Blessing Shine Agbomadzi from Ashanti Region as the Overall best male and female players respectively for Airtel Rising Stars 2015.

Sales Director at Airtel Ghana, Mr. Samuel Sarpong, in his remarks during the closing ceremony, acknowledged the efforts of the Ghana Football Association (GFA)and the Ministry of Education, the coaches and the players for making this tournament a success.

"We express our profound gratitude to officials of the National Juvenile Committee of the Ghana Football Association, The GFA Technical Director, scouts and those deeply involved with this year's competition and we believe more Airtel Rising Stars players will be called up into the junior national teams, " he said

"Let me reiterate that, at Airtel we believe in empowering people to make a change and bring out the power of potential in individuals to impact communities. Airtel Rising Stars is not only focused on football but also focuses on education and thus requires all players to be in school. By doing this, youngsters are encouraged to attend school whiles chasing their dream of playing football."

Airtel Ghana's brand ambassador, Kalybos, who was at the Coronation Park to add-spice to the fiesta encouraged the Airtel Rising Stars players to continue with their education and work hard with their footballing career as well so that Ghana will-benefit from their talent.

Airtel Rising Stars, is an annual grassroots football initiative that offers young boys and girls the opportunity to play, compete and showcase their talent to football-coaches, scouts and football fans.

The initiative is closely run with the technical support of the Ghana Football Association and has the blessing of the Sports Ministry since it commenced in 2011.