In TS, football isn’t just a spectator sport

  • | Sunday | 15th July, 2018

The camps, mostly in Hyderabad, hunt young talent as part of ‘grassroots’ football coaching initiative supported by All Indian Football Federation (AIFF). In Telangana, Hyderabad Football Academy (HFA) and Kerala Blasters, a club that reached the finals of Indian Super League (ISL) in 2014, 2016 and 2017, are currently working on grassroots football training. Similarly, Bengaluru FC too has plans to find young players in Telangana whom they can train. While four children attended a camp in Germany conducted by Arsenal Football Club, London, six spent time with Barcelona’s star players Luis Suárez of Uruguay and Croatia’s Ivan Rakiti?. Grooming groundsAs the World Cup season comes to an end on Sunday, over 300 under-15 young footballers have started training in seven grounds in the city as part of the grassroots project.

more-in Though not a football-frenzy State, Telangana surprisingly has 300 training camps that groom under-13 and under-15 footballers and they thrive round the year. The camps, mostly in Hyderabad, hunt young talent as part of ‘grassroots’ football coaching initiative supported by All Indian Football Federation (AIFF). The initiative, launched in 2012 to nurture talent among six to 12 year olds, has been adopted by only five States in the country so far. In Telangana, Hyderabad Football Academy (HFA) and Kerala Blasters, a club that reached the finals of Indian Super League (ISL) in 2014, 2016 and 2017, are currently working on grassroots football training. Grooming grounds As the World Cup season comes to an end on Sunday, over 300 under-15 young footballers have started training in seven grounds in the city as part of the grassroots project. “Kerala Blasters does not want to limit the talent hunt to Kerala as it is a leading club in south India. It’s looking at young talent in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and we are helping the club find and hone child footballers,” Anand Teja Dasari, managing director of Hyderabad Football Academy, told The Hindu. Similarly, Bengaluru FC too has plans to find young players in Telangana whom they can train. In Andhra Pradesh, a similar initiative is under way in Kakinada, Kurnool and Visakhapatnam. In fact, south Indian football clubs are scouting for local talent as they are currently dependent on foreign players as well as players of Indian origin, Vijay Kumar Bhogadhi, HFA coach, explained, adding AIFF too has been planning to build a strong team for FIFA under-17 World Cup, a biennial tournament that was last held in 2017. The HFA, in association with Just for Kicks, a government-supported initiative that finds young footballers, has dedicated a team to encourage children from underprivileged backgrounds in government schools to play football in Hyderabad. Over 722 government schools are covered under this initiative. “Children are coached at a young age as their skills can be honed best when young. In the European and Latin American countries, children are encouraged to play football from the age of three,” Mr. Bhogadhi said. Though finding children under six has proved difficult, some in Hyderabad who started playing football since the age of five have already attended training camps in Germany and Spain this year. While four children attended a camp in Germany conducted by Arsenal Football Club, London, six spent time with Barcelona’s star players Luis Suárez of Uruguay and Croatia’s Ivan Rakiti?. As Croatia faces France in the final match of FIFA-2018, young footballers of Telangana are gearing up for Indian League to make their way into ISL the coming winter.

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