KARACHI, March 15: Thirty two Under-15 football teams of Karachi including 16 school teams and 16 academy outfits will be taking part in the month-long 1st Energile Youth Football Championship (EYFC), starting here from March 21.

Organised by the Karachi United Football Club, the tournament has been launched with the aim of discovering and nurturing football talent at the grassroots level and providing a healthy sporting avenue for the kids.

Matches will be played at two levels — the school level and the academy level. There will be four teams in four groups playing on a round robin basis followed by the knockout phase. The group matches will have 20-minute halves and the knockout matches will be played with 25-minute halves.

Energile and Nike are the main sponsors of the event. The launching ceremony at a local hotel in Karachi on Saturday also saw the unveiling of the red football T-shirt along with the announcement of the draws

Draws

SCHOOLS

Group A: St Patricks High School, PECHS Education Foundation, Paragon Public School and the Centre for Advanced Studies.

Group B: Foundation Public School, DA Public School, Beaconhouse Jubilee and Beaconhouse DHA.

Group C: Karachi Grammar School, Beaconhouse PAF Chapter, City School PAF Chapter and Bay View High School

Group D: City School PAF Chapter (2nd team), City School Gulshan Chapter, Bay View Academy and Generation School.

ACADEMIES

Group E: Gharib Shah M’Dan, Karachi City Football Academy, Hussaini Sports Club and Karachi United Football Club.

Group F:

Taj Academy, Pak Johar Football Academy, Gulshan Soccer Academy and Zamzama United FC.

Group G: Karachi All Stars Football Club, Real Soccer Academy, Sindh Muslim Football Club and Titans.

Group H: Malik United, Laurentian Football Club, ZU Football Club and Karachi Youth Soccer Academy.