On May 15th and 22nd in Kolomyia and Galychi, located in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, the next events for the implementation of the FIFA TDS project to search for and develop young football talents took place.

Within these events, 145 children from the Kolomyia Territorial Community and 150 boys and girls from the Galychi Territorial Community participated in the tests.

Photo by IFOAF

As tradition dictates, each participant received a commemorative medal and a certificate of participation in the project, while their educational institutions were provided with sets of appropriate equipment to be used for organizing training processes.

Photo by IFOAF

Following the tradition, participants expressed gratitude to the Ukrainian Armed Forces for the opportunity to live and work, developing the talents of the younger generation.

Background Information

The Ukrainian Football Association, despite a period of the most challenging trials for our country, became one of the associations that joined FIFA's new talent development program (FIFA Talent Development Scheme).

Photo by IFOAF

The author and main coordinator of the program is renowned coach Arsène Wenger, head of FIFA's global football development division. He insists 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 at the 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 IFOAF

Within the pilot project to implement the talent development program, the UFA 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 nationwide. However, at this stage, it is regional level—Oblast Territorial Communities, towns, villages—and children from these areas who have never been involved in similar testing—or organized football processes.

Photo by IFOAF

The main tool of the project is an analytical system specially developed for testing children aged 8-12 to assess their physical abilities and potential development in case they are involved in professionally organized training processes. Both boys and girls are included in the program.