Football - Seychelles’ rising stars look forward to their next step |10 April 2014

With the launch of the 2014 Airtel Rising Stars programme last week, it was also announced that the winners of last year’s competition were to leave for the next phase of the programme to be held in Tanzania.

The two boys were chosen after having gone through a series of tests and examinations. As the most promising players they have been given the chance to take part in a training camp where they will be coached by professionals from the Manchester United Football Club.
Michel Mellon, a 15-year-old student of Pointe Larue secondary school, was selected from the under-15 category, while Chris Azemia who is now a student at the Seychelles Tourism Academy was chosen as the best from the under-17s.
Sports Nation caught up with the two young stars ahead of their trip to Tanzania on April 23.

Michel Mellon

“My first football team was River Star and I played for them in the under-12 category before I moved to Pointe Larue,” says Michel.
“At Pointe Larue I started training with Sir Vivian (former St Michel coach Vivian Bothe), where I played with the school team until I reached secondary where I joined the St John Bosco youth squad and I have now just moved to St Michel Youth.”

Michel said his favoured position is as an attacking midfielder and when asked about his favourite player, I was surprised to hear the name of Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben come up rather than the usual Messi and Ronaldo.

For a young footballer, Michel not only has to deal with training, but also school life as well as the usual responsibilities at home. His mother, who attended the interview with him, said: “I do not burden him with too much work at home as he trains a lot and usually comes home very tired. So I let him divide his time between his school work and football.”
Michel added: “Of course my education comes first, but I do take training seriously and try not to let them interfere with each other.”

Speaking about the Airtel Rising Star programme, Michel is thankful to his mother for pushing him to take part, as he explains: “I did not want to take part in the competition at first as I thought I would not stand a chance. It was in fact my mother who pushed me to give it a try and talked me into finally going for it.”

Once in Tanzania, Michel will have the chance to test himself against some of the very best young players on the continent and he said: “I am aiming to train as hard as I can so that I can upgrade my skills and get better.”

Chris Azemia

“I started playing football since I was in primary two. I used to play at school or sometimes on the courts until when I grew older and joined football teams. I am current playing with the U17 side in the second division although I am a St Michel Youth player,” said Chris.

Chris explained that he loves to play football because it is a team sport where he can pick up a lot of things from the other players.

“My first football team was St Roch. The coach approached me to join the team and I was the youngest player,” Chris explained when talking about how he started playing for his first team.
A first year student at the Seychelles Tourism Academy, Chris said that it takes a lot of sacrifices to be good in sports.

He explained:  “You need commitment. After school, there is no time to go to town and all, as training and my studies are my priorities.”
“It takes a lot of sacrifices as sometimes I come home from training very tired and have an assessment the next day, but I still have to take the time to study though. Sometimes I don’t even have time to watch television,” he added.

Chris also revealed that he was not actually the first pick in the under -17 category. “When the winner was announced, I had actually finished in second place. The person who got picked in first place could not attend the overseas camp and so I was chosen instead.”

As is expected when given such a chance to advance in sports, the athletes always face a few challenges but Chris remains confident in playing his game right.
Chris’ mother has expressed her wish that the Seychelles Football Federation continues to follow these two young footballers and do not let everything end after the trip.
Sports Nation wishes both Michel and Chris the best of luck ahead of what should be a very exciting and demanding experience.

S. N.