Mrs Freda Duplan
The fourth edition of the Milo U-13 Champions League (CL) has been launched in Accra at the Nestle Head office in Accra.
This year’s is scheduled to run between May and June and aimed at discovering the best football talents in the age category as well as providing the participants with very key life values for success both on and off the field.
Nestle Ghana Managing Director, Mrs Freda Duplan stated that Nestle’s key values of respect, resilience and teamwork resonated with the concept of sports and competition and thus, being a main part of the competition was only natural for the company.
She added that “Apart from the sporting aspect of the event, the tournament would provide the perfect platform to promote and demonstrate the importance of eating healthy and living an active lifestyle.”
Youth and Sports Minister Isaac Asiamah appealed to Nestle Ghana to consider a tournament for girls in the U-13 category since the female game was growing globally and it was important for females to be given the chance to show their skills and talents on the football pitch.
He praised Nestle for their willingness to be a strong partner in the growth and development of sports among young people in in the country.
The tournament icon, Stephen Appiah also expressed his gratitude at being chosen to mentor and inspire the participants in the tournament.
He urged the various participants to give their best shots in the matches and not to be consumed by the urge to win at all costs since football at U-13 level was meant to develop their skills.
The 2017 Milo U-13 Champions League will be played in two phases involving teams from the ten regions of Ghana.
The first phase will be the zonal competition and that will have 12 schools per zone facing each other for the top spot in the zone. The various winners from the zonal competitions will meet in the national finals.
The competition is expected to feature 10,000 pupils from 44 schools. The national finals will be played in Elmina in June this year.
Officials from the Ghana Education Service (GES), Category Manager for Beverages, Mrs. Fumi Osineye also graced the event.
By Kofi Owusu Aduonum