THIS YEAR’S edition of the annual Airtel Rising Stars will start at the end of next month and will run for over two months, according to Rwanda Football Federation (Ferwafa). Over 100 teams have registered but Ferwafa is still veting all the players to make sure they fall within the required age group. Players eligible to compete in the tournament must be under the age of 17. “We need to check their dates of birth because we want players of the right age, we don’t want old players because it has been happening in Rwanda for many years,” said Alloys Kanamugire, one of the members on the organising committee. Kanamugire noted that it will be good to have players, who fall in the required age bracket to help the federation get players, who will feature for the national junior teams. Two weeks ago, Rwanda held the Airtel-Arsenal football clinic which attracted 28 selected youngsters from Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Zambia and Rwanda. The youngsters got a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience the ‘Arsenal way of playing’. Arsenal football club legend Tony Adams was also in Kigali to inspire the players.
