NEWS

In support for the project, A National Team Technical Director Abdullah Avcı, TFF Board of Directors Member Serhat Soysal and Yıldız Holding Corporate Communication General Manager Zuhal Şeker visited kids.  

Abdullah Avcı who got together with kids at the activity in Riva said “As a technical director who spent an important portion of my career in the youth set up of teams, I place a lot of importance in this project which is being organized for the 6th time. It will be a great pleasure to watch the children who are trained in this project, which provides the kids with soccer knowledge during their growing period and no doubt also adds value to their social development, with National A Team uniforms in 5 years”. 

Yıldız Holding Corporate Communication General Manager Zuhal Şeker, who pointed out that they place great importance on sports projects for kids continued with the following “Because the TFF-Ülker Football Villages project does not only focus on football but on the social development of kids it is a distinct project from all other infrastructure projects. While the kids participating in the villages are socializing they are also becoming acquainted with an active lifestyle and balanced nutrition. The kids who emerge from these villages play an important role in enriching the setup teams of the major football clubs and the national team”.

Also the young stars of the Spor Toto Super League Muhammed Demirci from Beşiktaş, Kadir Arı, Berk Yıldız and Merthan Caner Öztürk from Galatasaray and Recep Niyaz ve Salih Uçan from Fenerbahçe got together with the kids and had discussions with them. Berk Yıldız and Muhammed Demirci who had personally attended the TFF-Ülker Football Villages before becoming professionals, shared their experiences.

The kids in the TFF-Ülker Riva Football Village receive football training in the educational program organized by experts in addition to courses on nutrition, dental care, first aid and fair play. The young players who also visited Ülker’s chocolate factory in Topkapı during the program, not only developed their football technique but also discovered the brotherhood, gentleman and solidarity spirit that is the essence of football. 

3,650 children have been trained in the Football Villages project, which was first organized in 2007 by a cooperation between the Turkish Football Federation and Ülker. The project which unites children from different provinces under the same roof, strives to contribute to their social-culture-personal development and increase the happy moments in their lives.

The Football for Children program which was brought to life through a cooperation between Ülker and the Turkish Football Federation so that more kids could do sports, has brought over 220 thousand kids together since 2007.