Tata Tea Jaago Re Arsenal Soccer Stars’ team leaves for UK to represent India in 20th Arsenal International Soccer Festival
Kolkata, June 14th, 2010: It is time of to meet the stars of ‘’Tata Tea Jaago Re Soccer Stars Round 3’’, the most celebrated national youth soccer tournament of the country! The 16 finalists of the ‘’Tata Tea Jaago Re Arsenal Soccer Stars Round 3’’ have been short listed to participate at the 20th Arsenal International Soccer festival in UK. The Arsenal Soccer festival allows young under 15 footballers from all over the world to interact and learn from the best talent in the football world. Ms. Sangeeta Talwar, Executive Director, Tata Tea and Mr. Baichung Bhutia, the legendary footballer of the country were present to announce the sixteen chosen finalists in a glittering ceremony today at Taj Bengal hotel in Kolkata.
Six months ago, the journey of “Tata Tea Jaago Re Arsenal Soccer Stars Round 3”, the national tournament for children aged 10 - 15 years from schools across India began in Kozhikode on 17th December 2009 It saw participation from ten cities. The two final teams from each city participated in the national finals at Shillong on May 8th 2010 to decide the national winners. total 6000 budding footballers across 10 cities participated from 500 schools in this tournament making it one of the largest such sporting activities in the country. The event had legendary players such as Jamshed Nessari who was the head scout who was present at all tournaments and other Olympian scouts like Brahmanand Shankwalkar and Premnath Phillips who selected the best 30 boys for the camp which was held at Kolkata between June 1st to June 13th 2010 to get trained by the Arsenal Coaches, from this camp 16 of the most talented are selected to play at the Arsenal Soccer festival in Emirates stadium at London. The event also had eminent football players such as Edmilson from Chirag united, Anil Guru from Lajong, Rennedy Singh who plays for India and other such players who were present at some of the tournaments and interacted with the teams. The National winning team was The Air force School from New Delhi.
Speaking at the function organized for the boys to celebrate their departure to the UK, Ms. Sangeeta Talwar, Executive Director, Tata Tea said, “All these 16 finalists should be very proud of their accomplishments. But this year we have another occasion to celebrate! ‘’Tata Tea Jaago Re Soccer Stars Round’’ has been officially recognized by the Limca book of records as India’s largest Under -15 football tournament amongst maximum venues . We are delighted that our initiative has been verified and officially recognized. This recognition gives us immense satisfaction and motivates us continue our hard work at the grass-root level.’’
The tournament reached a greater high this year with coaches from the prestigious Tata Football Academy who have visited the camp at Kolkata of the Tata Tea Jaago Re Soccer Stars Round 3 to shortlist potential cadets based on parameters set by the academy. The lucky cadets will be trained at TFA and oriented to international standards to play into the mainstream of national football. This association will provide a life changing career for these boys beyond the Tata Tea Jaago Re Soccer stars event.
Adding extra joy to the occasion, Mr. Baichung Bhutia, President of the Football players Association of India stated, “It is indeed a privilege to be a part of such an innovative initiative by Tata Tea. I am really happy that so many young talented players who otherwise go unnoticed would now be representing India. As a sportsperson, it makes me feel good when other people in sports get a chance to showcase their talent. If more corporate market players undertake initiatives like this, the interest for sports would increase. Initiatives such as ‘’Tata Tea Jaago Re Soccer Stars “’ certainly help in creating a talent pool which ensures a flourishing future for the India Football”
The ‘’Tata Tea Jaago Re Soccer Stars “is Tata Tea’s attempt to connect with the youth of the country. In its consistent effort to demonstrate and practice thought leadership, Tata Tea introduced the “Jaago Re” campaign. The aim was to address young India and its enterprising youth willing to take charge of the country’s bright future through their actions. The idea was to suggest that tea is not only a just a wake up drink. But It also can be an effective tool or catalyst for individual and social awakening.
About Tata Tea
Tata Tea is a leading player in the global beverages market with significant presence in over 40 countries. The company has steadily transformed itself from being a plantation business to emerge as a key player in the branded segment. Tata Tea’s operations spans the entire value-chain in tea, including research and development, tea cultivation, manufacture of black and instant tea, blending, packaging, branding, marketing, sales and distribution.
About Tata Tea Jaago Re Soccer Stars
The Third edition of Soccer Stars, Tata Tea Jaago Re Soccer Stars, is a one of its kind soccer tournaments for children aged 10 - 15 years. The tournament offers the soccer stars, access to unparalleled training programmers including the customized Arsenal development programme called The Arsenal Way. The tournament that commenced on December 17th 2009 happened in phases across ten cities – Calicut, Bangalore, Goa, Mumbai, New Delhi, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, and Shillong with each city having its own elimination rounds, culminating in national finals. 30 shortlisted kids from the tournament have participated in a 2-week training camp in Kolkata from June 1st 2010 to June 13 the 2010 , out of which 16 finalists have been selected to represent the Arsenal International Soccer Festival in London in August 2010.
About Arsenal FC
Arsenal Football Club was founded in 1886 when a group of workers at the Woolwich Arsenal Armament Factory decided to form a football team, turning professional in 1891. Now, some 39 trophies later, the club finished fourth in the 2008-09 English Premier League (EPL). Following the move from Highbury in July 2006 to the new 60,000 capacity state-of-the-art Emirates Stadium annual turnover has increased to more than USD400m – substantially more than Manchester United and Chelsea and in world terms, a very close second to Real Madrid. With talismanic manager Arsenal Wenger having recently signed a contract extension through to 2011 the future for Arsenal FC has never looked brighter.