German Embassy ‘On the Road with TAFA’

Cultural Attaché Karin Grimm

TAFA tournament participants

More than 300 football enthusiastic boys and girls enjoyed to be ‘On the Road with TAFA’ and the German Embassy Colombo during a three-day football camp in Jaffna and Point Pedro and a final tournament in the Ariyala Football Stadium Jaffna. The winning teams were not only awarded with trophies but will also be guests of the German Embassy and TAFA during a football weekend in Colombo. 

The project which was launched with the intention of identifying the next generation of football in Jaffna, and to promote a healthy lifestyle was a huge success and great fun for participants as well as organisers. 

The Thaabit Ahmed Football Academy (TAFA) was founded in 2009 with the aim to provide quality football coaching within Colombo. It has thus far expanded to providing coaching across the Island through various initiatives under their foundation offering free coaching and clinics to under developed regions of the country. In 2017 a crew of TAFA coaches as well as two German football coaches will travel around Sri Lanka for eight days to conduct football camps to train an estimated 1,000 children and mentor 100 coaches. 

The camps as well as the tournament was conducted in the Ariyala Football Centre Jaffna which was co-financed by the German Government and officially opened in 2014.