On September 2, Minsk /BelTA correspondent/. The Republican "Leather Ball" football competitions for children and teenagers, held under the auspices of the Presidential Sports Club, have reached their next finals. The first to determine the strongest will be the footballers of the middle age group, who will start their final tournament on September 6 in Novopolotsk, BelTA was informed by the press service of the Presidential Sports Club. The contenders for victory among the 11-12-year-old boys will be the teams "Vympel" (Ivatsevichi District), "Start" (Mioory District), "Vympel" (Gomel), the team of Novogrudok District, "Olimpik" (Slutsk District), as well as two capital teams - "Orlenok" from Tsentralny District and "Partizan" from the district of the same name. The winner and prize-winners in this age group will be determined on September 10. The second final for 13-14-year-old footballers will take place from September 13 to 17 in Grodno. The following teams have reached the final stage here: "Zvezda" (Baranovichi), "Yunost" (Lepel District), "Vityaz" (Gomel), the team from Shchuchin District, the team from Molodechno, "Vetraź" (Belynichi District), and the capital teams "Tornado" from Moskovsky District and "Partizan" from Partizansky District. The "Leather Ball" tournament will soon celebrate its half-century anniversary. During this time, millions of boys have participated in it, and some of them have already inscribed their names in the history of world football. The organizers of the current competitions hope that this time too, new football stars will emerge, who will replace the current masters of Belarusian football in the future. Traditionally, the winners and prize-winners will receive valuable prizes and commemorative cups, and all finalists of the competitions will receive souvenirs from the Presidential Sports Club. In addition to it, the organizers of the tournament include the Ministry of Sport and Tourism, the Ministry of Education, the Belarusian Republican Youth Union (BRSM), and the "Belarusian Football Federation" association. The general sponsor is the company "BT Telecommunications" of the closed joint-stock company "Beltechexport", partners are the Trading House "BELAZ" and the Belarusian Potash Company. -0-

BELTA