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The new three-fingered 'A' goal salute is sweeping through the nation. Is it yet another inventive goal celebration? What does it mean?
We have seen footballers coming up with 'out-of-the-box' ideas to celebrate their joy at scoring a goal.
We have seen them doing an aeroplane, a rocking baby, sucking thumb, kissing the wedding ring, boxing the corner flag, pointing to the sky, the firing rifle, the cartwheel, backflips, kissing the club badge and so on.
The most famous ones include the "Klinsmann" named after the player.He used to dive into the pitch with his arms and legs stretched. He had an unjustified reputation of diving to win penalties and free-kicks. Ravanelli used to pull his shirt over his head and run around the field. Roger Milla did his trademark dance near the corner-flag. Ronaldo does his signature "I told you so" waving of his index finger.
Recently, an increasing number of players have adopted a goal celebration where they appear to form the letter 'A' with two fingers from one hand pointing down and the index finger of the other hand forming the horizontal bit.
It stands for the A-Star, the brainchild of Fitz Hall, Andy Johnson, Kenneth Bonsu and Ronnie Wilson. It was set up to influence the lives of young people to open up pathways into employment through sport and other creative activities on a national scale.
The name was chosen as A-Star = Every child is a star which fits in with the government initiative "Every Child Matters"
The alarming death rate and the increasing problems of crime and violence among young people forced Ken and Fitz to do something. The result was "a unique company that hopes to offer real opportunities for young people with a wide ranging choice of activities to participate in and hopefully gain employment in a chosen field." says Fitz.
A-Star offers a chance for individuals to shine and showcase their hidden talents through the unique football tournaments A-Star have devised. The company website says,"Our aim is that young people will come away from the tournaments and activities with a sense of dignity and achievement to ultimately become role models in their own community, which falls directly inline with the independent Reach report which was commissioned by the Department for Communities and Local Government"
This project comes from the heart of the footballers themselves.
The players are featured in a promotional DVD that gives the viewer a glimpse of AStar. Emile Heskey, Micah Richards, Leighton Baines, and A-Star Co-Founder Fitz Hall to name but a few are fiercely committed to this cause
The initiative, and the positive message it's trying to promote, has been welcome in the footballing world and let us hope that they succeed in this venture
Written by Abhilash Manapatt
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