The second edition of the Airtel Rising Stars (ARS) Colts’ football competition has kicked-off over the weekend with zonal matches in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital.
Teams from the Ashanti, Northern, Brong-Ahafo, Upper East and Upper West Regions are competing to mortify for the first three slots which qualify the teams for the National Finals scheduled for Accra next month.
The Managing Director of Airtel Ghana, Philip Sowah in an address said one of the core aims for organizing the ARS competition is to help discover talents which will be deemed useful for the nation.
“This is why we are doing this with the Ghana Football Association (GFA) who have the expertise in matters of football administration. Airtel wants to be associated with helping to unearth and groom the next batch of talents for our various national teams,” he said.
Sowah added that, Airtel considered education an integral part of the lives of young people, stressing that “that is why we have ensured that all the boys and girls taking part in the competition are pupils currently in school”.
Julius Osei Tutu Agyemang, Chairman of the Ashanti Regional Football Association, reiterated the GFA's delight with the Airtel Rising Stars concept.
He noted that the future of Ghana’s football depends on the quality of players that are unearthed at the colts level.
Agyemang commended Airtel for the initiative and called on other stakeholders to join hands with the GFA in discovering and grooming the next generation of football stars for the country.
Former Black Star players Sammy Kufuor and Nii Odartey Lamptey, both Ambassadors of the initiative, encouraged the young ones to put in their best and to grab the opportunity offered them by Airtel to gain exposure.
The Zone Two competition will take place at Cape Coast from June 13-15 and will involve teams from the Eastern, Western, Central, Greater Accra and Volta Regions.
After the tournament, the two winning teams – male team and female team will participate in the inter-country tournament in Nairobi Kenya.
Additionally, four boys and two girls will travel to South Africa for a one week football clinic.
Airtel Ghana will set aside GH¢100 for each goal scored in this competition to be used in line with the company’s commitment to provide quality education to under-privileged schools in the country.
Airtel Rising Stars is a sports talent initiative introduced by Airtel in 2011 to discover and nurture talented Under 17-years male and female footballers, who otherwise would have gone unnoticed and untapped.
The initiative runs in all Airtel operations across Africa and seeks to bring to light the skills of the young and talented ones by giving them the platform to become world class football stars.**