Airtel Rising Stars Football Clinic Kicks Off In Rwanda

By Uche Peter
Click for Full Image Size

Lagos, Nigeria; April 22nd, 2014: Six most outstanding Nigerian talents discovered during the 2013 edition of the Airtel Rising Stars U-17 National Championship will participate in a week-long football clinic featuring academy coaches and a club legend from Arsenal FC of England.

The six players, who will fly Nigeria's flag at the one-week soccer clinic in Rwanda, include Rilwan Adeleke (Best Goal Keeper, Male), Olu Gabriel (Highest Goal Scorer, Male) and Wisdom Uforo (Most Valuable Player, Male).

Others are Augustina Boniface (Best Goal Keeper, Female), Falegon Joy (Highest Goal Scorer, Female) and Kafayat Shittu (MVP, Female). The Arsenal Soccer Clinic will run from Monday, April 28 to Friday, May 2nd, 2014.

The Nigerian contingent will be joined at the football clinic by their counterparts from Ghana, Zambia, Uganda and the host country, Rwanda. While in Rwanda, they will be tutored by a team of UEFA-licenced coaches and football experts from the Arsenal youth development system who will be expected to transfer their rich experience to the players.

Speaking about his prospects at the Clinic, Olu Gabriel, who incidentally will be travelling out of the country for the first time said the clinic will offer him the much needed exposure to improve as a player.

'The clinic will provide me an opportunity put in my very best, work very hard and learn from the Arsenal coaches who are renowned for developing young players like me,' he said.

Also speaking, Kafayat Shittu, who emerged MVP at the national championship said the Arsenal Clinic will help her become a better player in the future.

'Without a doubt, the Clinic will help me to learn new things and sharpen my skills so that I can be a better player in the future. I feel great and happy about the opportunity,' said the attacking midfielder from Erinle, Kwara State.

Following the conclusion of Airtel Rising Stars national championships in the respective countries, the most outstanding players in the male and female categories are sent for a week-long Arsenal soccer clinic which hold in a designated country. Past clinics have held in South Africa and Ghana with Nigeria fielding strong teams at both events.

The football clinic is part of the existing partnership between Airtel Africa and the English Premiership side which allows for technical support from the club side to the Airtel Rising Stars (ARS) initiative in five of her African markets which include Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, Uganda and Rwanda. On the strength of the partnership, Arsenal would provide UEFA- trained coaches to assist with training budding talents selected from each of the five Arsenal-Airtel countries.

The Arsenal Clinic is the culmination of regional and national tournaments in 15 countries in the African continent. It is part of the Airtel Rising Stars program, a pan-African soccer talent initiative that is focused on identifying and nurturing soccer talent from the grassroots onto a national stage.

Touted as the biggest tournament in the continent, the Airtel Rising Stars attracted over 18,000 youth teams and 324,000 youth players across 16 countries.

In addition to galvanising the biggest turnout during the championship stages, the program has also broken new ground by introducing girls to a pan African tournament.