South Africa School of Soccer for Chipkizi Cup in Arusha

ARUSHA: THE South Africa School of Soccer will be jetting into Arusha next December, ready to participate in the annual East African Youth Soccer Tournament, popularly known as ‘Chipkizi Cup.’

Also known as the Talent Academy, the South Africa School of Soccer (SASS) made the confirmation through an official letter sent to the event organisers, the Future Stars Academy of Arusha (FSA).

The school based in Johannesburg, is an academy that was established in 2018, Soccer being the core, Education Child development family support services, and Life skills.

The Director of the Future Stars Academy Alfred Itaeli revealed here that the 2023 instalment of Chipkizi Cup has so far attracted more than 300 teams from all over the world.

“Nearly 310 soccer teams, coming along with 5000 players, will be jetting into Arusha for the full week-long event,” said Itaeli, explaining that the football event runs from 11 to 17 December 2023.

Alfred added that the teams also bring along more than 6000 supporters, for the 14th season of the annual East African Youth Soccer tournament, popularly known as the Chipkizi Cup.

The East African soccer tourney features several categories, including Under-7; Under-9, Under-11, Under-13, Under-15, under-17 and Under-20, for both boys and girls.

Participating countries include Kenya, Uganda, Japan, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Rwanda, Cameroon, Somalia, DR Congo, South Africa, Zanzibar and the host Tanzania.

Then there will be talent recruiting agents, scouts and soccer teams from the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Macedonia, Netherlands, Germany, Iceland, Kenya and Malawi.

The MLS, Chicago Fire from the US, and the Outreach Ministry of Malawi are some of the soccer entities that will be pitching camp in Tanzania for the Arusha-held event in December.

The 2023 Chipkizi Cup, which runs for the 14th year now, will be staged at various venues in Arusha, including the Tanganyika Game Trackers (TGT) grounds, the Aga-Khan Sports Centre, the Sheikh Amri Abeid Stadium and the United World Colleges (UWC).

The Arusha Regional Football Association (ARFA) Zakayo Mjema said the Chipkizi Cup has been making Tanzania proud, by producing several players that are currently playing for various international teams abroad.