Thirty (30) male and female teams each from nine zones are in the Camp. The zones include 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. The Close Camp is preparatory to the national championship slated to hold at Campos Square, Lagos from 16 to 18 September 2011.
The Close Camp is another critical stage in the on-going Airtel football talent search tournament, which began with registration and later, Open Camps in nine locations across the nation. Participation in the Close Camp is sequel to succeeding in a gruelling Open Camp competition, which attracted 6,000 youngsters nationwide. The 30 boys and 30 girls respectively from each zone emerged from the Airtel regional Open Camp
The participants in the Close Camp were selected by a team of highly experienced and professionally disciplined coaches through a rigorous skill assessment exercises at the various venues. Trainers drilled the youngsters using a three-way test parameter, game intelligence, physique, and techniques.
At the end of the Close Camp, the 15 boys and 15 girls will proceed for the National Championship in Lagos. The Ibadan centralized Close Camp offers all participating zones same training conditions, i.e., weather, mental, and physical preparedness. It features strength-building techniques, team play, positioning, ball receiving, and shooting techniques among others.
Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director, Airtel Nigeria, Deepak Srivastava, said, 'the company has made adequate preparation to ensure the closed camp activities is hitch-free, adding that the purpose of the tournament will be realised, as it is the desire of Airtel to support Nigerian and African youngsters to realise their dreams through a structured football talent hunt.
Airtel Rising Stars (ARS) provides 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. Industry observers have termed it 'a unique innovation and a clear statement of the company's policy as an equal opportunity and non-discriminatory player.
After the three-day competition at the Championship, five outstanding talents will proceed to South Africa in October to join players from several African countries for a soccer boot camp and for further training and development at the prestigious Institute for Sports. In addition, the best three teams of the tournament at the national championship would get cash prizes while the most exceptional players will receive individual honours and rewards.
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