Bharti Airtel has announced to kick off of the second edition of under-16 soccer talent hunt “Airtel Rising Stars” (ARS) started in association with Manchester United last year. The ARS programme is open to individual entries and evaluate students from over 450 schools spread across seven cities in India, and will finally handpick the country’s top 11 under-16 footballers who will get the chance-of-a-lifetime to attend a week-long training camp with Manchester United Soccer Schools and possibly kick off a career in professional football.
During its first year of inception in 2012, the sheer scale of participation achieved by the ‘Airtel Rising Stars’ programme across India showed us a new side of the enthusiasm our country possesses for soccer as a sport. Last year, we saw ARS bring alive the soccer dreams of 12 very talented footballers. In 2013, brand Airtel is excited to further augment the ARS experience for talented footballers in India and take this soccer hunt to a level that is bigger and better,” said Mohit Beotra, Head Brand & Media, Bharti Airtel.
Gary Pallister of Manchester United added, With a base of 35 million Manchester United followers in India, we started working with Airtel on the ARS programme last year. We are excited to raise the bar higher this year and take ‘Airtel Rising Stars’ into its second year of serious soccer talent scouting across all parts of India.
The 3-months’ long Inter-Schools Tournament-cum-talent hunt will be conducted with the support of the respective State and District Football Associations.
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