• Youth teams that win their regional tournaments will earn a chance to play in the national final, to be held in Concepción on November 24. The winners of the 2019 Copa Enel will travel to Italy with tournament ambassador Iván Zamorano, where they will play a match against Inter Milan.
• Attendees at the Colbún Municipal Stadium will include Francisco Prieto, Gabriel Mendoza, Francisco Rojas, Marcelo Vega, Leonel Herrera, and Manuel Neira for Colo Colo, facing off against Rangers players José Yates, Eduardo Pinto, Boris González, Juan José Albornoz, Ismael Fuentes, Miguel Ayala, and Nelson Garrido.

Colbún October 3, 2019 – Chile’s number one youth soccer championship has come of age, and is returning for the second year to Maule, where it will continue to support the region’s young sportspeople. The event was celebrated with a friendly match between historic players for Colo Colo and stars of Talca’s Rangers club, including soccer star Ismael “Chupalla” Fuentes.

The friendly match and opening of the 2019 Copa Enel in Maule were held at Colbún Municipal Gymnasium, a sports center that over the next two months will be one of two locations in the region - together with San Clemente Municipal Gymnasium - where the 24 boys’ teams and 24 girls’ teams registered in the tournament will compete to win a place in the finals, which are to be held on November 23 at Ester Roa Municipal Stadium in Concepción.

The opening games of the boys’ and girls’ competitions in Maule Region were attended by the Mayor of Colbún, Hernán Sepúlveda Villalobos, the manager of San Clemente’s municipal sports authority, Carlos Videla, the executive director of the Fundación Iván Zamorano, Erika Zamorano, and the head of hydroelectric power plants at Enel Generación Chile, Carlo Carvallo, who took part in the opening of the championship and then enjoyed the friendly between the historic teams of Colo Colo and Talca’s Rangers club.

The stars of Colo Colo and Rangers who played in the match include: Francisco Prieto (goalkeeper), Pablo Contreras, Gabriel Mendoza, Francisco Rojas, Marcelo Vega, Leonel Herrera, and Manuel Neira. for Colo Colo, and José Yates (goalkeeper), Eduardo Pinto, Boris González, Juan José Albornoz, Ismael Fuentes, Miguel Ayala, and Nelson Garrido for the Rangers.

This year, the tournament for children aged 13 to 15 will for the first time include games held in Calama, a city with a strong soccer pedigree and hometown of a number of major Chilean players. This also consolidates the tournament’s presence in the central zone of Chile, appearing for the second year running in Maule Region. This year thus marks the first time that the Copa Enel will include activities held in four sections of Chile, from the desert north to the verdant south: Antofagasta Region, the Greater Santiago Metropolitan Region, Maule Region, and Biobío Region.

“We at Enel are proud to be able to make a contribution to the development of youth sport. The past seventeen Copa Enel tournaments have cemented the event’s position as the first step on the pathway to a professional soccer career for both male and female players, and we certainly hope to continue with it, particularly now that the tournament is coming of age and growing with each year that passes, particularly in terms of scope, with a new region joining this year - Antofagasta - thus garnering us presence in the north, south, and center of our country,” said Carlo Carvallo, head of hydroelectric power at Enel Generación Chile.

“We are very excited, very happy with the cup and also grateful to Enel, which kept us in its heart for the second year running, for the chance to participate in a tournament with a striking track record, which has been the springboard for professional players. So we are very happy to take part in Chile’s leading youth soccer cup, and hope that all the children, parents, guardians, and teachers involved will enjoy this event, and go as far as possible,” said Hernán Sepúlveda, Mayor of Colbún.

Copa Enel, cradle of professional athletes

Over the previous 17 annual Copa Enel tournaments, a total of more than 100,000 children have taken part, finding in this contest a platform to launch a professional sporting career.

The children who took part in previous years’ tournaments have gone on to become members of the Chilean national team, Olympic medalists, and professional players, with hundreds playing in the youth divisions of major national clubs. These sports stars include:

Spirit of Copa Enel

This tournament - created by Enel Distribución - has worked with the Fundación Iván Zamorano, Ministry of Sport, SENDA, and UNICEF to provide the company’s social support services to 33 districts where it supplies electricity in Greater Santiago.

The championship is held on 8 sports grounds that were provided with lighting by Enel as part of its Public Space Recuperation Program, which has outfitted over 170 sports grounds in Greater Santiago, part of the company’s ongoing efforts to promote sports amongst young people.