During the event, 96 young athletes were reviewed and tested after completing a full set of test trials under the project program. Overall, more than five thousand children from all regions of Ukraine have participated in the project, which involves over 35 OTGs.

Soon after systematic analysis of the testing results, those children who demonstrated the best results will be identified and invited to participate in FIFA TDS football camps.

Photo by the press service of the UAF

The camps for young football stars will be held at the end of August and throughout September. Currently, organizational work is being carried out to ensure their quality operation.

Also worth noting is that another component of the project is currently being implemented, namely training for beginner coaches under the UAF D license program.

From July 10th to 14th, a new group of 15 trainers are undergoing training. These professionals were selected and recommended for the program with the aim of acquiring new contemporary football knowledge.

Note

The Ukrainian Football Association (UAF), despite being in one of the most challenging periods for our country, has become one of FIFA's member associations participating in the implementation of its new Talent Development Program.

The program was authored and is headed by renowned coach Arsène Wenger, director of global football development at FIFA. He emphasizes that giving a chance to every talent, regardless of where and when they were born, should be a strategic activity and responsibility of each national association around the world (with centralized support and leadership on a global level from FIFA). The launch of the program was preceded by an extensive global research process among all 211 member associations of FIFA.

Photo by the press service of the UAF

Within the pilot project for implementing the FIFA Talent Development Program, the UAF has focused on identifying young talents through testing their natural physical abilities and further organizational support for developing identified potential talents. This process must certainly be national-wide. However, at present, the focus is regional level — OTGs, towns, villages, children from which have never been involved in similar testing — and, mostly, organized football processes.

The main tool of the project is an analytical system specifically developed for testing children aged 8–12 to assess their physical abilities and potential development if engaged in professionally organized training programs. Both boys and girls are included in the program.