Milo U-13 champs kick off

The annual Milo U-13 Champions League began last Saturday with Bagabaga Annex, Mother Theresa Primary and Funsi RC Basic school qualifying to represent the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions at the national finals in June.

The three-day event started with a soccer clinic for both players of all 12 competing schools and was facilitated by tournament icon and former Black Stars skipper, Stephen Appiah, and national coaches drawn from the Regional Football Associations (RFAs).

Appiah expressed his excitement over the high standard of training facilities Nestle had invested in to give the young talents a feel of what they are likely to enjoy across Europe should they choose to play football to the highest level. 

“Anytime I see these facilities I get excited because these are the very basic training equipment you will find in all the advanced football nations across Europe and the Americas. I have been there before and I can tell you these will cost the brand a fortune but with Milo being the number one promoter of grassroots sports, I am not surprised," Appiah noted.

In all, 10 schools will battle for supremacy at the national finals to be held from June 21-24 at the Ndoum Stadium at Elmina.

Meanwhile, 12 schools from different districts in the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions are taking part in the zonal qualifiers which ends today at the Sunyani Senior High School Park.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Miss Abena Abrefa, a management trainee at Nestlé Ghana Limited, expressed satisfaction with the great relationship the brand is enjoying with the Ghana Education (GES) in their quest to help build future champions for the country.

“Various sporting events have been organised through this partnership and this is in demonstration of our continuous contribution to the development of grassroot sports in the country.

 “As a brand, we believe through participation in grassroot sports, children are taught indispensable values of respect, confidence and teamwork. These values picked up on the sports field help shape individuals for eventual success in any professional field," she added.