LaLiga, Future Stars launch young women festivals
AFTER the recently signed deal between La Liga and Future Stars, Tanzania will be organising the annual young women football festivals in March, it was revealed on Saturday.
The Women Youth Soccer Festivals will include football matches and sports training workshops to be coordinated through the Future Stars Academy of Arusha.
According to the Future Stars Academy Director, Alfred Itaeli, in April this year, the final matches for the maiden festival will be taking place in Arusha, pitting qualified teams from Tanzania against their Kenyan counterparts.
The selected teams from Tanzania were produced from the inaugural tournament at the former International School of Moshi, now known as UWC grounds along Dodoma Road in Kisongo.
Participants are those in the Under-15 boys and Under-17 girls. The boys’ players were brought in to support the girls’ teams.
The festivals to be held annually in the March, aim to boost women players in Tanzania and East Africa.
Eight teams participated in the maiden Women’s Week Soccer Festival organised by FSA in association with LaLiga in Arusha over the weekend.
“LaLiga grassroots projects always strive for the best, and in association with our counterparts in Kenya, we are working to make the festivals an international tournament and we believe the events will be excellent,” said Jorge Gazapo, the LaLiga International Development envoy representing Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.
He added that they were fully committed to the project and that for the forthcoming event, there will be six academies in Tanzania and six others from Kenya whose players will be meeting in Arusha in April 2023.
Mwalimu Swedi Mrisho from Olmotonyi Secondary School Girls’ soccer team said the Future Stars has been an inspiration to their students, especially when they hear that through the Academy many youngsters have been able to fly abroad for soccer events.
Meanwhile, the Spanish Soccer League, LaLiga in partnership with Future Stars Academy of Arusha will be rolling out women youth football programmes across the country in future so as to recruit more young players from Tanzania for international level events.
