AIRTEL Networks Zambia and the Football Association of
Zambia (FAZ) yesterday signed a Talent Search
memorandum of understanding (MoU) worth more than
K4 million.
At a signing ceremony, Airtel marketing director Sekou Barry
said the Talent Search programme was to help identify and
develop young footballers that will become the rising stars
of the game and future players of the Zambia national
soccer team.
Barry said the programme would run from this month to
March next year and will give FAZ an opportunity to have a
wider base of selecting female and male players for the
under-17 teams.
“This programme is the culmination of district and provincial
tournaments in 10 provinces of Zambia. The programme is
part of the Airtel Rising Stars plan (ARS), a soccer talent
initiative that is focused on identifying and nurturing soccer
talent from the grassroots onto a national stage,
“Described as the biggest tournament in the country, the
championships attracted a number of youth across the
country in 2014,
“The stature of the Airtel Rising Stars is growing with each
season primarily due to the array of talent that we are
spotting from various provinces countrywide .
This will allow
a child in the interior area to prove his or her talent,” he
said.
Meanwhile, FAZ president Kalusha Bwalya said Airtel has
been instrumental in helping the football body identify
talent in impossible places.
Kalusha said most of the under 17 women and men’s teams
were ARS products.
“The many talents that we have in our U17 and U20 teams
for boys and girls as well as the bedrock of success on which
our Olympic team is founded are deep rooted in the success
of the ARS,
“That’s just but one demonstration of how important this
programme is. It is therefore exciting to imagine the impact
that a remodelled ARS will have on our schools,
communities and junior and youth teams.
Kalusha said the challenge for this year was for the players
across the country to seize the available opportunities and
be that ‘stand-out talent’.
He said that FAZ would seize the opportunity of this year’s
schedule to continue engaging with its members and
councillors who it would be putting through the paces of
football administration and management introductory
courses.-Daily Nation Zambia
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