South Delta Zone teams to Airtel Rising Stars Tournament topped teams from other part of the country by wining most medals at the AirtelUnder 17 Tournament National Championship in Lagos
The zone which had its centre, Port Harcourt during the Airtel open camp, won five awards to emerge the team with most category medals at the finals of the tournament. Youngsters from across the country participated in the programme.
The categories include Coach of the Tournament, Best Female Goal Keeper, Most Valuable Player (Male), Tournament Champions (Female) and Bronze Medallist (Third Place Winner).
The tournament which was sponsored by leading telecommunication services provider, Airtel Nigeria, provided the zone the opportunity to demonstrate its dominance on the soccer pitch. Each zone fielded both male and female teams.
The nine zones that participated in Airtel Rising stars included North West, North East, North Central, North Basin, South East, South West, South Delta, Lagos metro, Lagos North, with centres in Kano, Gombe, Kaduna, Jos, Owerri, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Lagos and Abeokuta respectively
The final match in the female category between the team from Port Harcourt Centre and the North Central team lived up to predictions with the youngsters displaying high-level tactical and technical competences.
It however, took just ten minutes in to the first half for team Port Harcourt centre team to strike through IbinaboGeorgewell who ran on to a through ball before slotting home for the opener.
The Kaduna team responded very well with OgebeOya mounting serious pressure on the Port Harcourt team. Their effort finally paid off in the second half when a tap-in from Mattias Josephine brought the teams to parity.
With the match heading for penalty shootout, it took a midfield error for the South Delta girls to restore lead through IbinaboGeorgewell who scored her second of the tourney. The match was finally taken beyond the Kaduna Centre girls when Chinonye Maclean shot from a tight angle to make it three goals to one after dispossessing a defender of the ball. The situation remained the same until the centrereferee,BukolaOlisa called for the end of the match.
The South Delta female team had qualified for the final match after defeating Owerri two nil in the semi-final match played Saturday at the Campos Square.
In the third place match in the male category between Lagos and Port Harcourt, it ended two goals to one in favour of the team from the Port Harcourt centre. Winners of the third place match won cash awards of three hundred thousand naira (300,000) each
The duo of Fabiana Briggs and MuriLawal emerged Tournament Best Goalkeeper (female) and Most Valuable Player (male) respectively, while Joseph ‘Zico’ Egbu won the award for Tournament Best Coach.
Airtel Rising Stars (ARS) provided a platform for upcoming soccer talents under 17 years of age, in Africa, both male and female, to display their skills to leading scouts and coaches.
A total of 6,000 teenagers took part in the Tournament at the various Open Camps in Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Jos, Gombe, Kano and Kaduna, Lagos and Abeokuta. At the end of the regional Open Camps, the talent hunt will proceed to a Closed Camp in Ibadan before getting to the National Tournament. Thereafter, five selected players will proceed to South Africa in October for a soccer boot camp and also for further training and development at the prestigious Institute for Sport.