A total of 35 players who featured in the Port Harcourt leg of the 3rd Airtel Rising Stars, ARS, U-17 zonal championship have qualified for the national finals.
They were selected from the 3,500 youths who participated in the Port Harcourt zonal screening and elimination championship held from July 29 to August 2 at the Training Pitch of the Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Coach Egbu ‘Ziko’ Joseph, who announced the finalists, said 17 girls made the list, while 18 players qualified to represent the zone in the male category of the national finals slated for Lagos later in the month.
Among those who qualified in the female category include Sharon Nwabueze, Ifeyinka Onuora, Oyebowals Deborah, Otta Celine and Mercy Udo Akpan. Also in the list are Tonye Allia, Agbude Edore, Elendu Success, Favour Emmanuel, Grace Agu, Emenike Chineya and Alekiri Owaibe. The others are: Okoli Uche Faith, Justina Kakoyebobo, Adepoju Damilola, Onyenacheya Faith and Unyime Christopher.
Gambo Yakubu, ARS 2 Most Valuable Player in the male category, staged a return again this year, leading a list of other finalists which include Patrick Dakoru, Evans Ogbonna, Chamberlain Aniefor, Wisdom Uforo, Sheriff Erheriene, Olu Gabriel, Friday Collins, Godswill Joseph, Nwafor Friday and Arinze Anaedum. The other boys who made the cut are Chibueze Aruo, Bright Emma, Precious Usen, John Akpo, Ugochukwu Anyanwu, Joshua Brown and Eze Matthew.
Coach Ziko however, extolled sponsors of the ARS and leading telecommunications company, Airtel Networks, for their continued support to the discovery of young football talents in the country.
He said, “I’m happy about what Airtel is doing, and everyone can see fulfillment on the faces of the youths. The company has really done well.”
So far, the zonal championships slated to hold in six cities across the nation have been concluded in Kaduna, Abuja, Enugu and Port Harcourt with zonal teams both in the male and female categories emerging for the National Championship billed to hold later in August. Ibadan and Lagos championships will hold simultaneously from August 7-9, 2013.
The Airtel Rising Stars U-17 Tourney, in its third year running, is a pan-African initiative of Airtel Africa, designed to provide support for the development of football talents across African markets.
The competition is aimed at discovering talented students (male and female) of secondary school age and providing them the opportunity to polish their football skills and develop into soccer stars.
As part of the tournament, top teams from 17 African countries including Nigeria will compete against one another to determine the ARS African Champion, scheduled for Nigeria in September. This will be followed by a week-long football clinic with Arsenal FC of England for most outstanding male and female players discovered during the national championship.
