NEWS

By winning their two games at the eliminations in Switzerland, the U-15 Women’s National Team earned the right to participate in t he 1st World Youth Olympics which will be hosted in Singapore in August 2010.  Ten of the players on the team are former participants in the Ülker Football Villages project.

The ten talented players, all born in 1995, were chosen to play on the National Team, based on the performance they displayed last year at the Sinop Ülker Football Village, part of a project organized jointly by the Turkish Football Federation and Ülker. The first Football Village took place in Van in 2007. Five young players who attended that village have been chosen to play for the U-15 Men’s National team.

Yıldız Holding: “We are proud”
In an announcement made by Yıldız Holding Corporate Communications Director Zuhal Şeker said, “We are very proud of our U-15 Women’s National Team which will represent us at the 1st World Youth Olympics. The Football Villages is part of the Football for Everyone project which we operate in cooperation with the Turkish Football Federation. The achievements of the 10 players who will play for the U-15 National Team have made us very proud. Their achievements will inspire our future projects.” Şeker also indicated that the projects associated with Football for Everyone all hold special significance for Ülker and that the company will continue to cooperate with the Football Federation and encourage children’s sports.

Turkish Football Federation and Ülker joined together in 2007 to organize the UEFA Grassroots – Football for Everyone Ülker Football Villages project has since reached and given training to 2,080 children in the 12-year-old age group. As for all of the Football for Everyone events, Football Villages, besides its function to determine talented players, also presents opportunities to display the development of their talents to training coaches and federation officials.

The UEFA Grassroots - Football for Everyone project is meant to foster the concept of “fair play” in football lovers of all ages. Ülker and the Turkish Football Federation initiated a series of events in parallel with the Football for Everyone project in June 2007. To date, these events have been extended to reach almost 50,000 children. This success has resulted in Türkiye being presented with its second star in two years, under the terms of the Grassroots Charter.