Kerala, the home state of one of India’s finest ever footballers, IM Vijayan, will soon get a much-needed boost to its grassroots football set up. Kerala Blasters, Kerala’s own ISL franchise, supported by master blaster, Sachin Tendulkar, have announced the commencement of Kerala Blasters Football School (KBFS) from August 11, 2015 in Kochi.
While Kochi is its first centre, KBFS will soon look to expand to three new centres – Thrissur, Thiruvananthapuram, and Kozhikode. The school plans to train 180 students in 6 batches of 30 initially with the help of Physical Education (PE) teachers who have been guided and mentored by Scott O’Donell, AIFF Technical Director and coaches from Kerala Football Association (KFA).
Most encouraging was what Terry Phelan, Technical Director of the Kerala Blasters had to say.
“We’re not looking for quick fixes. It’s a long-term approach where the real foundation for progress for the youth and under-19 teams will be offered. This will be a football project where children are going to be thinking for themselves, where game intelligence will be given top priority.”
Presently, admission to KBFS is open to children born between 2002 and 2005 (10 to 13 years old). The fees are Rs 2000 per month to be paid along with a Rs 5000 annual enrolment fee. To make the program accessible to talented youngsters, KBFS will also be offering scholarships to deserving candidates.
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