The announcement was made in the presence of Ulaiyan Al Wetaid, CEO of VIVA Bahrain and Manchester United ambassador and footballing legend, Denis Law who travelled to Bahrain to celebrate the launch of this community-driven initiative, that will involve participation from various schools in Bahrain nominating their best teams to come forward and compete in a nation-wide tournament that will see 22 talented boys and girls being selected.
Following the incredible success and overwhelming response received over the past two years, Season 3 of VIVA’s MUSS programme will give 22 promising boys and girls, within the age-group of 13-15 years, once in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend a week-long training camp at Manchester United Soccer School in the United Kingdom.
“In the past, this programme has benefited 51 talented youngsters who have demonstrated their exceptional skills during their training in the UK amongst players from other countries and have made Bahrain proud. Taking forward this success, we are launching the third season of MUSS with the aim to continue to recognise and train such talent and take them one step closer to achieving their dreams of being trained the Manchester United way,” Kicking off the programme’s third season, Ulaiyan Al Wetaid, VIVA CEO, said.
“We are also very proud to welcome and host in Bahrain one of the true living legends of Manchester United, Denis Law whose extraordinary record with the legendary football club is well known to everyone” he added.
“I have been overwhelmed by the number of United fans who have greeted me here today. It is my first time in Bahrain and the welcome I have received has been fantastic. I think the VIVA Manchester United Soccer School programme is a great community initiative to encourage children to take up the game. That is how I started playing football. I used to kick a ball about with my friends and then went on to play for some of the greatest teams in the world! VIVA is giving school children the opportunity to learn skills that will last them a lifetime and you never know we could end up unearthing the games next big star,” Manchester United ambassador, Denis Law said.
To be one of the 22 winners, schools must come forward to nominate their team of 11 players, aged between 13-15 years of age at the VIVA Manchester United Zone at Bahrain City Centre from April 17th until May 11th, 2013 to secure a spot in the auditions. The exciting soccer programme is designed to give school children in Bahrain the opportunity to show off their footballing prowess through a series of selection criteria including inter-school tournament, which will be overseen by renowned coaches from Manchester United Soccer School from May 16-18, 2013.
The unique format of the programme ensures that every player during the tournament gets an equal opportunity to showcase his/her skills and is evaluated on all parameters (including physical and technical attributes and individual skills), with awards for Best Player, Best striker, Best goalkeeper, top 3 winning schools, in addition to 22 players who will go on to win a trip to Manchester, courtesy of VIVA Bahrain.
The 22 finalists will win a week of expert football training sponsored by VIVA Bahrain from June 30th –July 6th, 2013 on the Manchester United Soccer School grounds in UK, using state-of-the art training equipment, and undergoing the true routine of footballers as well as receive training at Carrington where the first team trains.
This latest tournament is the third international football community initiative by VIVA with previous MUSS programmes supported by Manchester United legends, Lee Sharpe, Denis Irwin and Dion Dublin and received thousands of entries from young footballers registering their interest.