Two weeks back, the Airtel Rising Stars tournament kicked off its regional phase in Eastern and Western Uganda, with Masindi and Soroti districts hosting the first games. The competitions ended on Sunday 18th of May with a record double win for Premier FC from Masindi, who were declared champions in both the boys’ and girls’ categories In Soroti, Amuria Crane City defeated Bukedea to take home the boys’ gold while AS Roma were the female champions.
Last weekend, the fever migrated to the North and Central regions of Uganda with competitions held in Arua and Luweero. Onduparak and Paidha were the winning teams for the boys and girls respectively in Arua while Nakaseke and Jannan SS were Luweero champions.
All the four teams have now already embarked on the uphill task of preparing for the finals that will be held in Fort Portal from 26th to 30th June. They will be joined by four more teams that will have won the remaining regional games which are going to be held in Lira, Tororo Kabale and Kampala.
The Airtel Rising Stars initiative, the biggest Under-17 grassroots tournament on the African continent, aims at identifying talent and nurturing upcoming footballers. This is one of the few football equal opportunity initiatives that targets boys and girls. Over the years, the Airtel Rising Stars initiative has yielded many success stories and has enabled several upcoming soccer talents to join Africa Premier League clubs and their countries’ national teams.
The selected players get an opportunity to get the best-in-class sports training, during residential clinics that have over the years, been held in various countries. This year’s clinic is due to take place in Gabon.
Airtel has played a major role in the nurturing of remarkable talents and in Uganda there is an abundance of talent that is waiting to be nurtured. In fact, the initiative is gradually establishing itself as a strong feeder program for the national teams. From the past Airtel Rising Stars seasons, a number of Uganda stars have gone on to graduate to the current national Under-17 team. For example, Akello Lillian (defender) who was the captain National squad ARS was selected to play in the Under-20 World Cup qualifiers tournament for Africa; Adamu Abubakar, who played in the first ARS season is currently a goal keeper in the National Under-17 team that recently won Silver in Morocco.
This year Airtel, currently the largest supporter of youth football on the continent, has partnered with FUFA, Rwenzori Water and Arsenal FC to provide a window for young boys and girls to display their talent to several scouts who are expected to select the top players who will attend this year’s soccer clinic under the tutelage of professional coaching staff from Arsenal FC.
