Three scouts of European football clubs are monitoring thirteen players from the 2015 Airtel Rising Stars national finals held in Sunyani over the weekend.
All the players the scouts have penned down are boys despite some impressive performances from the female teams who took part in the competition.
Gold honours for the Girls’ category was taken by the Greater Accra Region while the Brong Ahafo Region won the Boys’ event.
Oddly, Brong Ahafo only entered the competition as hosts after they were beaten by the Upper West Region in the zonal qualifiers. The B.A. lads beat Northern Region in the finals while bronze honours went to Greater Accra Region.
Ashanti Region picked up second position in the Girls category with the Upper West Region winning bronze.
Ashanti Region’s Blessing Shine Agbomadzi and Sule Mohammed from Brong Ahafo Region emerged the overall best players of the 2015 Airtel Risng Stars competition.
“The talent in this competition is so much. I have taken seven players that I want Fenerbahce to see. I would make the arrangement for them to be seen by the chief scout either in Ghana or to send them to Turkey,” Yaw Boateng who scouts for Turkish club Fenerbahce said.
“I believe that exposed to right environment, they will grow technically and become good players for the national teams,” he noted.
“This work by Airtel has really brought about this important step for these kids. I have been following Airtel Rising Stars in the media. I was in two minds whether to come or not but after coming to see the level of talent, my mind has been blown wide open,” the Fenerbahce scout added.
Boateng’s assertion is corroborated by Francis Oti Akenteng, the Technical Director of the Ghana Football Association.
“We will build the next national Under 17 team from here. The talent is fantastic. They just need to play together and we can take it from there,” Mr. Oti Akenteng said.
“The players are genuinely young and they have a great future ahead of them. Airtel has done extremely well with this competition. The challenge now is how we take it from here,” Coach Akenteng added.
Sam Sarpong, the Sales Director of Airtel Ghana, the sponsors of the competition reiterated his company’s commitment to nurturing Ghana’s best football talents at an early age.
“Airtel is here to ensure that your talent is seen. Airtel is here to ensure that you live your dream and Airtel is promising you that we will never abandon you. We will support you in every conceivable way till you become the global superstars and national team players you always dream to be,” Mr. Sarpong said.
The 2015 Airtel Rising Stars competition is the biggest and most authentic talent hunt competition at the juvenile level. At least 20,000 players at the under 15 level were evaluated by development coaches all around the country and screened into regional teams who then played in zonal championships before the national finals in Sunyani.
“We are confident we have seen the very best players at under 15 level in Ghana,” said Kwame Gyan, the Brand Assets Manager of Airtel Ghana.
“We have been as far as Wa and Denu and we have seen some amazing talent. But we have discovered anybody who is out there and chosen the very best. Now lets set them on the path to success,” Kwame Gyan concluded.
