THREE talented youths from Malaysia will get the chance to push their football career to greater heights and train with youth coaches from 26-time German champions FC Bayern Munich in Germany this August.
Allianz Malaysia Bhd announced last week the return of its global grassroots Allianz Junior Football Camp (AJFC) along with the expansion of the camp to include teams from East Malaysia this year.
“This year, we bring you the sixth edition of the competition and it goes without saying how proud I am of how far we have come.
“When we started out in 2012, we roughly had 450 players in the competition. Fast forward to 2016, that number grew to 1,134 players,” said Allianz Malaysia Bhd chief executive officer Zakri Khir.
“Hitting milestones like that is always a great motivator for us to continue to reach out to more deserving youngsters. I am pleased to announce that we are taking AJFC across the South China Sea to Kota Kinabalu in Sabah for the first time,” he said at the launch.
“East Malaysia is rich in talent and has given the country a long list of sporting greats. Sabah in particular has given us footballers such as James Wong, the late Peter Rajah, Labuan-born Hassan Sani and Matlan Marjan,” Zakri added.
The format as in previous editions has been retained, an initial league will see 20 teams in five regions battle for the title of regional champions along with prizes.
The competition will take place between March 18 and May 20 with the kick-off in the Central and Southern region on March 18, followed by the Northern region on March 25, the East Coast on April 1 and East Malaysia on April 8.
Over each six-week long league for the regions, a selection panel will monitor and select the 18 best players for centralised training, where they have to integrate themselves with their new teammates before representing their region in the grand finals.
Each region will then compete in another round of matches in a round robin format while the players put on their best in hopes of becoming one of the 13 Malaysian players who will progress to Bali, Indonesia for the AJFC Asia camp in July.
To do that, they will again have to impress the selection panel, not just with their playing skills but also their decision-making and overall ability on the field. The panel is headed by former Malaysian footballer Datuk Richard Scully and include footballers such as Shahrin Majid and Mohd Nidzam Jamil.
There, the players will vie for three spots to Munich, Germany, where they will continue their journey at the AJFC in Germany to train with FC Bayern Munich’s youth coaches in August for six days and five nights together with youth players selected through Allianz’s AJFC in other countries.
Open to footballers aged 14 to 16, Allianz expects 1,000 youngsters to compete in the regional matches-cum-selection which will be played in an 11-aside format for 70 minutes.
Allianz Life Insurance Malaysia Bhd chief market management officer Susan Ong said the competition is open to boys and girls, and highly recommend the participation of all-girls or co-ed teams in the AJFC.
“We are targeting the 14 to 16-year-olds to give them a chance to chase a dream and try out something that could potentially be a life-changer for them.
“We are proud to be able to invest in them and see growth in their lives. If we can provide the platform, then they can take steps forward.”
As part of additional development for the players, Allianz will also incorporate life skills such as public speaking and financial literacy during their centralised training.
Ong added that from their experience, even local talent scouts make their way to the matches and observe the players.
In keeping with the ethos of grassroots development, elite players from State Project Schools, the National Sports School and National Football Academy (Gambang) are excluded from participating so that they will not overshadow the others.
“We are looking for uncut diamonds, and this is a great platform” Scully said.
To-date, 16 players have gone to Germany, and five of them have gone on to play in the local President’s Cup tournament.
Zakri said that continuing to hold the AJFC was about being consistent in their mission: “When we do something, we do it long-term. Life’s aspirations continue. We cannot tell the children: ‘Sorry, we have no budget this year’. That’s not fair to them.
“We are striving for AJFC to be the country’s premier Under-16 league and we will be looking to expand AJFC to Sarawak next year.”
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