Airtel Rising Stars 2014 Final Trials in Goa From Feb. 20

(L-R) Raju Kr., Nachiketa, Karan, Md. Aqib, Sachin Negi

Report by Santanu Ganguly, New Delhi: Airtel Rising Stars 2013-14, India’s largest under-16 soccer talent hunt today announced the names of 23 children who will participate in the final trials at a two-day camp in Goa. The final trials will kick start from February 20, 2014.

The 23 players selected for the camp are Arka Dey, Rajib Roy and Akash Dalui from Kolkata, Md. Aqib, Sachin Negi, Karan Khurana and Nachiketa Datt from Delhi, Premchand Singh, Niraj Singh, Kamshon, Azad from Bangalore, Sanath Valldares, Marc D'Souza, Akram Khan from Mumbai, Suraj Basumatary from Guwahati, K. Nagaraj, Rakesh, A. Rahul, Rehan from Hyderabad, and Clerence Furtado, Liston Colaco, Suraj Shirodkar and Jolitan Dias from Goa.

The upcoming camp, overseen by Manchester United coaches, will help choose 11 young footballers who will train at a weeklong camp at the Manchester United Soccer School in the United Kingdom. The camp will mark the culmination of an intensive six-month talent hunt conducted in seven cities with the support of state and district football associations.

The experienced and watchful eyes of the coaches will judge players on their performance, taking into consideration their physical and mental strengths, expertise in position, and technical acumen. Based on their expertise and skills test, players will be selected based on criterion mentioned in the Manchester United Scouting Guidelines.

The names of 11 selected players, including one goalkeeper, will be announced on February 21, 2014.

Started by Bharti Airtel in association with Manchester United, one of the best soccer clubs in the world, ‘Airtel Rising Stars’ screens young footballers across India for sporting capabilities and skillsets based on their performance in tests, real time match simulations etc. The on-ground execution of ‘Airtel Rising Stars’ has been entrusted to Procam International - India’s largest Sports marketing and Leisure Management company.