NEWS

Mizgin Özdinç is from the Province of Hakkari (Türkiye). She may be short, but is the fastest player at the Erzurum Girls’ Football Village. She is the youngest of six children. Nothing thrills her more than chasing a football. That said, nothing could prepare her for how happy she’d feel when through when she won her first metal at the end of camp. According to camp coordinator, Ceylan Demirbağ (herself a former national football player): “Every leaves these camps with experience as well as lessons that mean something to our age group. The Ceylan who entered camp and the Ceylan who after camp are two different people. The same holds true for Mizgin.”

Furkan Başkal is from Tuzla, Istanbul. He used to play football on the street with his friends. They used stones to indicate the goalkeeper net. A local tradesman served as their referee. Every time a car passed; they’d have to put their game on hold. Later on, he played on concrete in the school yard. He eventually joined Sakarya Football Village. He trained on a real grass pitch for 10 days. There, he and his 40 other friends followed the camp’s diet to a tee. In the end you could say that he managed to escape the chaos of the streets only to learn how to play real football with real position from professional national coaches.

For nine years straight, Ülker has been inviting kids from across Türkiye to play football together with the Turkish Football Federation. We’re working hard make sure they gain skills that they can carry with them throughout the rest of their lives, as well as the chance to play football.

We’d like to thank our over 5,300 friends who’ve joined us at Football Village thus far. A big thanks also to our coaches and our volunteers for everything they’ve done for the kids, as well as to everyone else who have helped us make the project what it is today. We’re looking forward to meeting new players and having even more fun next year (10^th year).