Meghalaya’s Federick Kurbah wins the grand finale of Apollo Tyres and Manchester United’s United We Play trials; earns ticket to Old Trafford

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaApril 25, 2022

Federick Kurbah of Meghalaya rose to the occasion at the final round of United We Play trials held in Chennai and confirmed his selection along with three other participants for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit Manchester later this year.

Organised by leading tyre maker Apollo Tyres in association with Manchester United, over 5000 young footballers took part in the programme this year. The final round of United We Play trials was held in the presence of Manchester United legends – Peter Schmeichel, Nemanja Vidic, Mikael Silvestre, Louis Saha, Quinton Fortune, Wes Brown and Ronny Johnsen, who were suitably impressed by Federick’s footballing talent and the mettle he displayed on the pitch during the trials.

In the finale held at Chennai, four young footballers – Federick along with Chennai’s RS Preyarhanjan, Chandigarh’s Ronald Singh and Kunal Yeole from Pune, were finally shortlisted for once in a lifetime opportunity to visit Old Trafford to participate in exciting activities like matchday experience, training session with Manchester United Soccer School coaches, and legend interactions, scheduled for later this year.

16-year-old Federick comes from a humble family background with his single mother raising four children. He started playing football at a very tender age with his friends from the neighbourhood. His grandmother and uncle, both football fanatics, were impressed by the early signs and the idea of making it a career option took shape. Federick, a massive Neymar fan, started training under his school coach when he was in class 6. After three years of dedicating his life to football and partly academies, the pandemic hit and somehow derailed the orientation. Federick however never gave up and continued with his training at home, imitating various techniques from online videos of his favourite Brazilian.

He passed the initial round of trials held at Polo Ground, Shillong, and qualified for the grand finale in Chennai, where he impressed the scouts including the seven United legends with his work rate and skills. He expressed: “I am extremely thankful to Apollo Tyres and Manchester United for giving me this platform. My mother learned about the initial trials from her colleagues at work and knowing that I have been waiting for an opportunity like this to showcase my skills and passion, she registered my name. I always wanted to make my family proud for all the sacrifices that they, especially my mother, have been making to support my footballing aspirations. I am happy to have grabbed this opportunity with both hands and shall be travelling to Manchester soon, which is a dream come true.”

The trials for the second season of United We Play was organised by across 19 venues in India, in a hybrid format comprising 10 virtual workshops and Masterclasses across 12 markets, and an on-ground leg across 8 markets in two phases, covering more than 5000 aspiring players.

United We Play is a pan-India initiative by Apollo Tyres and Manchester United to support young footballers in India by giving them a platform to showcase their skills with the objective of motivating aspiring footballers to continue playing, by engaging with them, and introducing them to global training methodologies. The second season of United We Play was launched earlier this year with a virtual interaction with Manchester United legend Dimitar Berbatov.

The theme for this edition of United We Play as envisioned by Apollo Tyres and Manchester United was ‘Access to Sports’ with the aim of creating access to global standards in player development and engaging the youth via sport even without access to open spaces. In addition to being the Global Tyre Partner of Manchester United Football Club, Apollo Tyres, in India, has a presence in Indian Super League (ISL), being the principal sponsor of Chennaiyin FC.