Rivers State male and female teams have emerged winners of the South Regional Championship at the ongoing Airtel Rising Stars (ARS) 5 U-17 football tournament held in Port Harcourt at the weekend.

CAP: Regional Operations Director, Airtel, South Region, Veronica Onoja; Captain of Rivers State male team, Tari Ogidi with Ex-Super Eagles International and ARS 5 Technical Adviser, Etim Esin during the presentation of trophy to the team at Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt on Saturday.

Rivers State boys clinched the ticket after defeating their Delta State counterpart 2-0 in an encounter that was full of action. The goals were scored by the team captain, fifteen year old Tari Ogidi, who eventually won the Highest Goal Scorer Award in the regional tournament.

In the female category, the girls from Akwa-Ibom held the River State girls to a 1-1 draw, but lost 5-4 on penalties.

While presenting trophies to the winners, Airtel’s Regional Operations Director for South Region, Veronica Onoja, congratulated all the teams for participating in the competition and supporting the tournament. She noted that all the boys and girls who participated in the regional tournament played so well and did their best to get to the finals.

“Airtel has done well to create a platform to facilitate the development of our youths and sports and also help them achieve their dreams. We have seen quite a number of stars in the making and the most important thing is that they have been able to showcase themselves on this platform. I believe this is a springboard to launch them to greater heights” she said.