Lagos – Following the recent launch of Airtel Rising Stars (ARS Season 3) national U-17 tournament for boys and girls sponsored by Samsung Electronics, interested youngsters with football talents can now register to participate in the tournament. The registration which will be concluded on July 18 is a core requirement for participation in the tournament, which is open to youngsters between ages 13 and 17.
Interested youngsters can pick up registration forms, complete and submit them at any Airtel shop or channel partners’ outlets across the nation or during a road show dedicated to the Football project. Also, intending participants can enroll for the ARS tournament by registering online via www.ng.airtel.com. A total of 63, 936 youngsters from across the country are expected to participate in this year’s edition of the round leather game. This figure represents 80 male teams and 16 female teams made up of 18 players each from across the nation. This season, Airtel has expanded the scope of the grassroots soccer initiative by partnering with Samsung Electronics and has also introduced “Goal for Education” – a monetized incentive for every goal scored at the National finals for both the male and female teams.
In his remarks on the kick-off of registration exercise, the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya enjoined youths with football talent to avail themselves the opportunity for development and stardom which the ARS platform offers. His words, “In our usual way of providing viable platforms for Nigerians to live their dreams by utilising their gifted talents, the ARS has proven, based on the achievements recorded by participants of the last two seasons, that it is a platform for discovering future soccer stars that will do Nigeria proud in the game.
It is a thing of joy that some of the youth who are past participants of ARS are today members of the U17 national team, while others are polishing their skills in some of the nation’s professional club sides.” He added that this year’s edition would be bigger and more exciting especially as the African Championship is taking place in Nigeria as well as the Coaching Clinic which will be facilitated by professional coaching staff from Arsenal FC. The 2013 ARS U-17 will run in a league format across six zones among which include Lagos, Ibadan, Benin, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Kaduna.
The tournament comprises six competitive stages that include intra-state, state championship, zonal championship, national tournament, inter-country championship and an exclusive Arsenal Football clinic with Nigeria playing host to Africa for the last two stages. The Airtel Rising Stars U-17 Tourney, a unique pan African initiative of Airtel Africa, is designed to provide support for the development of football talents across her African markets. It aims at discovering talented students (male and female) of secondary school age and providing them the opportunity to gain football skills and develop into renowned stars.
source: vanguard
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