Friday, August 24, 2012

Airtel Rising Stars in the Garden City

Airtel Rising Stars (ARS), India’s largest under-16 soccer talent hunt will kick off with a bang in Bangalore on Saturday, August 25th, 2012. With more than 2500 talented footballers registering for the three-day auditions to be held at the Bangalore Football Stadium.

ARS, an initiative by Bharti Airtel, in association with Manchester United, one of the best soccer clubs in the world, is a rigorous scouting program that will cover 16 cities across India and choose 12 talented footballers, who will get the chance-of-a-lifetime to attend a week long training camp at Manchester United Soccer Schools. 
  • ARS to bring alive young India’s soccer dreams
  • ARS is India’s largest under-16 soccer talent 
  • More than 2500 participants for Bangalore trials
  • Giving 12 promising youngsters the chance-of-a-lifetime to train with Manchester United Soccer School and kick-off a career in professional football
  • Bangalore Leg starts from August 25th, auditions August 25 and 26, and final announcement on 27th August.
Day 1 and 2 will see in action participants from around 40 invited schools who are expected to send in their best teams of 12 players each through Sports School Association.

In addition to this, on 26th August 2000 players who have registered online www.facebook.come/airtelsoccer for the selection trials will go through the auditions.

The boys who turn up for the auditions will be put through the paces under the guidance of five coaches-cum-selectors, who will then pick 120 of the most talented players to advance to the next phase. These players will be selected according to criteria based on the aspects mentioned in the Manchester United Scouting Guidelines.  These aspects will dwell on the technical and tactical skills, the physical and mental strengths, the social skills, besides focusing on attitude, behavior, communication, discipline, enthusiasm and fair play.

The shortlisted 120 players will be informed of their status as well as the venue and timing of the second phase of selections on completion of the first phase. The best three players will be picked from the 120, who will then join their counterparts from the other 15 centres to participate in the six-day final selection trials, scheduled for September.

The ARS talent hunt will be conducted in 16 cities - Lucknow, Mumbai, Delhi, Goa, Kolkata, Bangalore, Calicut, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kochi, Shilong, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Pune, and Jaipur with the support of the respective State and District Football Associations.

The unique format of ARS program will ensure that every player gets an equal opportunity to showcase his skills and playing acumen through a series of selection criteria, overseen by renowned and officially certified coaches in each centre. The best three players from each city will then be picked to attend final six-day camp-cum-selection trials by coaches from Manchester United. The 48 players will be divided into four teams of 12 each and will be tested on all parameters, including physical attributes, individual skills, match situations and their performances in actual matches, before 12 of the best players are chosen to travel to Manchester United for a week and to train alongside the Manchester United Academy team.

In 2009, Bharti Airtel had announced its tie-up with Manchester United to bring a variety of benefits for Airtel’s football loving customers in India.

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