Six young Sri Lankan footballers flown to Spain
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Front row from left: Vidushi Vinodya (Kavisigamuwa MV), M.A.A Shan (Trinity College), A. Simar Ahamed (Sarbudeen Vidyalaya), K.M Kalheem (Al Aqsha NS Kinniya), M.I.M Zaid (Hameed Al Husseinie College), M.A Dulini Sandeepani (Bediwewa MV Polonnaruwa) Back row from left: Hemantha Abykoon (President SLSFA), Damitha Kulatunga (Senior Manager Corporate Affairs, Nestle), Sunethra Samarasingha (Lady Chaperon SLSFA)
Six young talented
Sri Lankan football players flew to Spain for a fully sponsored trip by Milo, to make their ultimate football fantasy come true. They will be attending a four day coaching camp run by FC Barcelona, where world class Football training will be offered by Milo’s “Road to Barcelona”, presenting the participants with a once in a lifetime experience.
Milo’s efforts to develop local football champions among school children kicked off with an All-Island Under-12 Football tournament, where six best performed players were selected after an extensive training for an all-expense paid trip organized by Milo to a four day football coaching camp run by one of the leading professional football clubs in the world, FC Barcelona. Partnering with the Ministry of Education and the Schools’ Football Association, ‘Road to Barcelona’ is an initiative taken by Milo to develop local Football champions and give them a wholesome experience of the international football arena.
The six lucky winners who embarked on this Barcelona mission are; M.I.M. Zaid of Hameed Al-Husainia College Colombo, M.A.A. Shan of Trinity College Kandy, K.M. Kalheem of Kinniya Al-Aqsa College, A. Simar of Pulawarmani Sherifudeen School, Dulani Sandeepani of Bendiwewa Maha Vidyalaya Polonnaruwa and WidushaVinodya of Kavisigamuwe Maha Vidyalaya. The children will be accompanied by a teacher, President of the Sri Lanka Schools Football Association (SLSFA) and an employee of Nestlé Lanka.
They departed the country on Friday and will witness the ultimate football experience of attending a training in Camp Nou, the home stadium of FCB. The coaching camp will be held from October 1 to 3 inclusive of the ‘Escola’ football clinic, technical skills development on the pitch, ‘Camp Nou’ classroom sessions, museum visit, city tour, interact with FC Barcelona coaches and take part in many fun filled games while getting along with team members of participating Milo countries such as Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, Vietnam, Thailand, New Zealand, Indonesia, Australia, and Pakistan. The kids and their guardians will return to Sri Lanka on October 5.
The pillars of strength behind the success story of these kids were the coaches of SLSFA, Sports Division of Ministry of Education, coaches of the winning schools for training the children and the parents of the children for being a constant source of support.