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Mumbai’s Sanath Valldares and Akram Khan have been selected
- ‘Airtel Rising Stars’, India’s largest under-16 soccer talent hunt saw 23 selected participants from 7 cities take part in the two-day final trials in Goa
- The young players were judged on technical and tactical skill, physical and mental strength, social skills, on field behavior, communication, discipline, enthusiasm and fair play
- 11 of the most promising youngsters (including a goalkeeper) were selected and awarded the chance-of-a-lifetime to train at the Manchester United Soccer School and kick-off a career in professional football
Mumbai, 21 February 2014: Airtel Rising Stars 2013-14, India’s largest under-16 soccer talent hunt and an initiative launched by Bharti Airtel to provide young talented footballers the chance-of-a-lifetime to train at the Manchester United Soccer School, today concluded its six-month hunt and handpicked 11 talented children who will travel to the United Kingdom and train at the prestigious school.
The selected players are Arka Dey and Rajib Roy from Kolkata, Md. Aqib and Karan Khurana from Delhi, Premchand Singh (GoalKeeper) and Niraj Singh from Bangalore, Sanath Valldares and Akram Khan from Mumbai, Rakesh K. from Hyderabad, Liston Colaco and Jolitan Dias from Goa. The two-day final trials took place under the guidance of Manchester United coaches Lami Sonola, Kevin O’Connell, Dave Chapman and Adam Hilton.
From warm up exercises that included dynamic stretching, fun competitive games with and without a football to rigorous sessions where coaches tested players with different scenarios and conditions, the two-day camp had it all. The players were also divided into teams and tested on some specific parameters such as physical attributes, individual skills, match situations and performances in actual matches. Sessions included areas such as dribbling skills, shooting skills and specialized workshop for players and goalkeepers.
Each player got equal opportunity and time to demonstrate his skills before 11 of the finest players were chosen to travel to Manchester United for a week and to train alongside the Manchester United Academy team.
Speaking about ‘Airtel Rising Stars 2013-14’, Mr. Rohin Pinto (Zonal Business Head, Goa & Konkan) , Bharti Airtel said, “We are thrilled to have come to the end of yet another edition of ‘Airtel Rising Stars’ that gave us an opportunity to witness, first hand, the phenomenal talent that exists in our country. The program gave many young children across India a chance to display their talent. We believe the 11 young children chosen today will transform into excellent footballers in the time to come. Airtel is delighted to associate with Manchester United and bring alive the football dreams of India’s many talented players.”
Delighted to announce the conclusion of ARS 2013-14, Lami Sonola from Manchester United said, “Each year, we are pleasantly surprised to see the kind of potential young players in India possess. This year again, it was a pleasure to take Airtel Rising Stars into its second year of serious soccer talent scouting and choose 11 young, dynamic and talented players who will possibly kick-off a career in professional football. I would also like to take this opportunity to commend the efforts of each player who participated in ARS this year and wish them the best.”
Kamshon Khongmalai and Azad Nirame from Bangalore, K. Nagaraju (Goalkeeper), A.Rahul and Mohd. Kasheem from Hyderabad have been selected as standbys incase an injury, illness or passport / visa problems occur to any of the selected players.
The on-ground execution of ‘Airtel Rising Stars’ has been entrusted to Procam International – India’s largest Sports marketing and Leisure Management company.
In 2009, Bharti Airtel had announced its tie-up with Manchester United to bring a variety of benefits for Airtel’s football loving customers in India. As part of this association, Airtel customers across India have been enjoying exclusive access to Manchester United football content as well as money-can’t-buy match experiences. The ARS programme is an extension of this long term association between brand Airtel and Manchester United.
