Volta Region were crowned winners of Zone II of the second edition of the Airtel Rising Stars Competition in Cape Coast on Saturday The tournament which started last year, is a pan-African soccer talent program that focuses on identifying and nurturing budding soccer talents from the grassroots to the national level. It also provides a platform for upcoming soccer talents under age seventeen to showcase their skills to leading scouts and coaches. The Volta Region after bulldozing their way through to success in the Southern sector which consists the Central Region, Western Region, Eastern Region and the Greater Accra Region will now battle the Brong Ahafo Region who won Zone I at the national finals in Accra. The winning regional teams would be joined by two select-sides from each zone as well as their female teams in the national finals which will take place from July 3-6. The competition which is supported by the Ghana FA will see the performing players being drafted into the junior national team. “The Airtel Rising Stars (ARS) initiative is being run in close collaboration with the Ghana Football Association and the National Juvenile Committee in particular and they have done a great job by picking young talents who have what it takes to make it into our national teams going into the future; from the level of football we have seen thus far, we believe that the national finals in Accra will be very competitive,” Corporate Relations Manager of Airtel Ghana, Kwame Gyan said. The two winners in both the male and female division of the national event will participate in an inter-country tournament to be staged in Nairobi Kenya. Six of the best players, 4 boys and 2 girls, will also take part in a one-week football clinic in a country yet to be disclosed to help develop their skills. The technical team will present the trophy to the Volta regional Minister, Henry Ford Kamel later this week. INDIVIDUAL AWARDS. BEST GOALKEEPER: KPODOVIA EMMANUEL -VOLTA BEST DEFENDERS: AGBADZI ROBERT -VOLTA AIRTLE DISCOVERY: OMU JUNIOR -VOLTA BEST GOAL OF THE TOURNAMENT: YABANI EMMANUEL -VOLTA BEST COACH OF THE TOURNAMENT: CHRISTOPHER TSUMAFO -VOLTA