The 2017 edition of the MILO® Under-13 Champions League ended last Friday with three schools, Bagabaga Annex, Mother Theresa Primary and Funsi R/C Basic representing the Northern, Upper East and the Upper West regions respectively qualifying to play in the National finals.

The three-day event started with a soccer clinic for players of all the competing schools as well as over five hundred (500) school pupils drawn from the Tamale Metropolis. The clinic which forms part of Nestlé’s effort to enrich the skills of young talents with the basics of football was facilitated by Tournament Icon Stephen Appiah, former Captain of the Senior National Team, the Black Stars and coaches drawn from the Regional Football Association. (RFA).

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Miss Abena Abrefa, a Management Trainee at Nestlé Ghana Limited expressed satisfaction with the great relationship the brand is enjoying with the Ghana Education (GES) in their quest to help build future champions for the country.

“Various sporting events have been organized through this partnership and this is in demonstration of our continuous contribution to the development of grassroots sports in Ghana”.

 “As a brand, we believe through participation in grassroots sports, children are taught indispensable values of respect, confidence and teamwork. These values picked up on the sports field help shape individuals for eventual success in any professional field. Also pupils learn that winning is more than just coming first but is about a sense of achievement and the joy of taking part, knowing they have done their best,” she added.

Speaking to the media after the clinic, Stephen Appiah, the Tournament Icon expressed his excitement over the high standard of training facilities the Brand has invested to give the young talents a feel of what they are likely to enjoy across Europe should they choose to play football to the highest level.

“Any time I see these facilities I get excited because, these are the very basic training equipment you will find in all the advanced football nations across Europe and the Americas. I have been there before and I can tell you these will cost the brand a fortune but MILO being the number one promoter of grass root sports I am not surprise".

In all, 12 schools drawn from the Northern, Upper East and the Upper West regions of Ghana competed in the tournament with Funsi R/C Basic school from the Upper West region emerging Zonal champions.

In all ten (10) schools will battle for supremacy at the National Finals to be held from the 21^st to the 24^th of June 2017 at the Nduom Stadium in Cape Coast.

Meanwhile twelve schools from different districts in the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions are preparing feverishly to take their turn in their Zonal qualifier come the Wednesday the 24^th and Friday 26^th of May 2017 at the Sunyani Senior High School Park.