The investment in youth and focus on grooming soccer talent at a young age is beginning to bear fruit with the U-17 and U-20 teams both competing favorably against Africa’s best. The national youth team, also known as the Junior Wasps, will today take on their Namibian counterparts in the first leg of the 2012 African Youth Championships qualifier. The encounter is without doubt a major test for the young team. After being together for over two years, first as the U-17 team and now as the U-20, Rwanda’s team now has the experience – a vital element as they seek to qualify for the second successive continental championships.Rwanda’s team comprises players that featured in last year’s Africa U-17 Youth Championships and the FIFA U-17 World Cup finals in Mexico. Both the U-17 and U-20 teams are ranked among the top five in Africa at youth level. The later have international experience and are strong enough to hand the nation its first victory in the qualifying series.In previous editions, Rwanda qualified for the two youth championships as hosts, so the teams didn’t need to go through the rigors of qualifying as is the case this time round, which means, to qualify for the U-20 tournament that will be hosted by Algeria next year, they need to do what all their predecessors failed to do—making it to the finals tournament through qualification.With youth football gaining momentum and the experience of playing in the continental and world U-17 finals’ tournaments, the future looks brighter than ever.
