Ataşehir, İstanbul · European centre, Romania
YOUTH TALENT FOUNDATION & PLATFORM
UYAFA is a foundation and platform that discovers, develops and connects talented young people from under-served regions to global opportunity. Football is our flagship; education, arts and technology are our growing fields.
NEWS
2026-04-08The Cudi Cup, played in ŞırnakŞırnak won the tournament and earned the right to represent Turkey at next year’s Palandöken Cup in Erzurum.Read on →
2026-02-22An honour plaque for the president of RPGGeneral President Necati Alçık presented a plaque to the president of RPG for supporting the foundation’s project for disadvantaged children.Read on →
2026-01-02UYAFA’s European centre in Romania now has a pitch of its ownA.S.R.T. signed a cooperation protocol with the Sports High School (Sf. Pant.), one of Romania’s long-established schools.Read on →About
We build inclusive pathways from local pitches and classrooms to international clubs, universities and stages. The discovery happens in the field, the assessment happens through YAFA, and what follows is somewhere for the young person to go.
For your future: eat well, live actively, work your land and never waste your water!
UYAFA carries its identity and its mission through the project “For your future: eat well, live actively, work your land and never waste your water!”, which is meant for talented boys and girls living in rural areas. After the years between 2008 and 2018, Anadolu Spor Akademisi went through a structural and institutional change in 2018 and continued under its present name, UYAFA.
FILM
UYAFA shuts the main street down. Traffic waits while the parade runs its length, banners naming the 28th rosehip and pekmez festival and the children’s parade at its center.
WHERE YOU START
FOR TALENTS
Young talents
Create a profile, share your videos, apply to programs and scholarships.
FOR PARENTS
Families
Safety, transparency, education support and clear expectations. We say in advance what happens at each step.
FOR ACADEMIES
Academies & clubs
Register your academy, list your programs, reach pre-assessed talents.
FOR SCOUTS
Scouts & partners
Verified, data-enriched profiles from regions you would not normally reach.
FOR SPONSORS
Sponsors & donors
Your support becomes concrete opportunity: scholarships, camps, tournaments, an AI lab.
FOR PARTNERS
NGOs, schools, universities
We complement your work, not replace it. We grow impact through joint programs.
PROGRAMS
Academies & tournaments
FOOTBALL
Cudi Cup, Palandöken Cup, UYAFA FK. The road from the pitch to professional.
02Multi-sport camps
OTHER SPORTS
YAFA's AI testing is cross-sport; guidance to the right discipline.
03Academic talent
EDUCATION & STEM
Scholarships, olympiad prep, mentorship toward university.
04Young artists
ARTS & CULTURE
Music, dance, visual arts; portfolio, stage and digital showcase.
05Social impact
LEADERSHIP
Youth leadership academies, community projects, ambassador roles.
06A bridge to opportunity
SCHOLARSHIPS
UYAFA Global Scholarship, international camps and exchange programs.
TALENT PLATFORM
We combine on-the-ground tournaments with YAFA's AI-assisted assessment. Every step is recorded, so a claim about a child can be checked against something.
01
Discover
On-the-ground scouting and tournaments; apply or be nominated.
02
Assess
YAFA: the right discipline from motor skills, reflex and balance data.
03
Develop
Training, education, character and life skills.
04
Connect
With clubs, academies, universities and scouts.
05
Support
Scholarships, mentorship and international opportunities.
IMPACT
Numeric impact data will be generated from real records as the platform grows. Today's proof is visible and verifiable: the tournaments, the pitch in Romania, the YAFA model and Erasmus partnerships.
01
From Anadolu Spor Akademisi to today
02
Institutions: Akademi, Vakıf, FK, YAFA, A.Ş.
03
Tournaments: Cudi Cup, Palandöken Cup
04
Turkey and Romania; vision: more to come
TOURNAMENTS
Cudi Cup and Palandöken Cup put children on a real stage in Şırnak and Erzurum.
ROMANIA
Our European centre now has its own pitch, the base for cross-border camps and exchanges.
YAFA MODEL
AI-assisted assessment turns motor-skill, reflex and balance data into the right discipline for each child.
ERASMUS
Knowledge-exchange partnerships connect our talents to European students and institutions.
LIVING MAP
Today the map shows Turkey and Romania. Tomorrow, more, and verifiable every time.
TRUST
Board, high advisory council and charter. A foundation and joint-stock structure for accountable, sustainable management.
Clear safety and parental-consent processes, data privacy and ethical selection. The child's well-being comes first.
NEWS
2026-06-01
A knowledge exchange with Erasmus students, organised by UYAFAStudents from several countries shared their academic experience and what they had observed of other cultures.2026-05-19
UYAFA’s representative Necat Akman hosted Yattara in Mardinİbrahim Yattara, the Trabzonspor legend, met football fans in Mardin and UYAFA’s provincial representative Necat Akman.2026-05-02
Talent discovery with artificial intelligence: the YAFA modelA model that reads sporting aptitude in children aged 5 to 12 from scientific measurements. It was first applied in Şırnak.Our talents
Kadir TaşçınarGöztepe, Trabzonspor
Abdülkadir ÇelikBaşakşehir
Ahmet Eren AkgüneyAltınordu FK
Bozan UymazGalatasaray
Ekrem YararTrabzonspor
Özgür SertYeni Malatyaspor
Ahmet İdeBB Erzurumspor
Renas DalmışBB ErzurumsporNames and clubs are taken from UYAFA’s own page.
Corporate structure
01UYAFA AkademiAcademy and tournamentsTalent scouting in the field, training programmes and the tournament calendar.
02UYAFA VakfıScholarships and social impactThe foundation body: scholarships, child rights, social aid and cultural activity.
03UYAFA FKClub, ages 10 to 18The football club: leagues, tournaments and the competitive pathway.
04YAFAAssessment modelBuilt on motor skills, reflex and balance data. Directed by Prof. Dr. Mevlüt Özben.
05UYAFA A.Ş.Corporate structureInvestment, sponsorship and corporate management for the group.TRUST
NEWSLETTER
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References and partners
Protocol
Sports High School (Sf. Pant.), Bucharest
A cooperation protocol was signed. The school that trained Gheorghe Hagi, Cosmin Contra and Gabi Balint.
Support
RPG
A corporate company with 1,100 employees. A plaque was presented for its support of the project for disadvantaged children.
Programme
Erasmus
A knowledge exchange was organised with students from several countries.
Institution
Turkish Education Counsellor’s Office, Bucharest
Represented at the signing ceremony under the Sister School Project.
