Youth football grows up in Kazakhstan

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KAZAKHSTAN — The Coca-Cola Brigades Rally, which the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) cited as “the world’s most valuable event for the development of youth football,” involved around 1.5 million children from 5,000 Kazakh schools. They first competed against each other at the class and school level, then the winners passed through the sieve of neighbourhood, city and regional competitions. The 16 strongest teams in the nation competed in a round robin tournament to determine the overall winner of the rally.

This year, teams from Kyzylordin and Zhambyl Regions met in the final with the Zhambyl team winning 4-1. The fans at Spartak Stadium were anything but childlike in their enthusiasm. Play shifted from one wing to the other. The young players didn’t rest for a minute, and the goalkeepers had their hands full too. Third place went to footballers from Taldykorgan.

“The tournament participants are not professional footballers, or even students at a specialised athletic school,” noted Edygen Yumashev, director of the youth football department of the Kazakh National Football Federation. “But these are exactly the kids from whom the stars of Kazakh football are going to arise.” Coaches watched the young footballers during the tournament. The competition revealed many gifted children that any athletic school would be happy to have.

The Kazakh Football Federation plans to institute new similar events in the near future now that football officials are seriously thinking about a national renaissance in youth football. At present, the Coca-Cola Brigades Rally is the largest children’s football tournament in Kazakhstan.