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FC Goa’s Jofre Conducts Football Camp in Anantapur

It has been a highly promising football season for the Anantapur Sports Academy (ASA), capped by the performance of the U15 and U18 teams. These teams have shown great promise, playing for a professional I-League team, Fateh Hyderabad AFC. They eventually brought back goodwill to the Rural Development Trust’s (RDT) investment, and have promoted its objective of inculcating a sporting and footballing culture among the youth in the Anantapur District.

Seeing the spark that these youngsters have rekindled in football in Anantapur, the ASA has decided to reach out to more children. This time however, they believe that they need to nurture younger talent to reach their objective. They are looking to broaden the ASA football programme by bringing children in the U11, U13 and U15 categories on board at the residential academy. For this they roped in professional assistance in the form of Spaniard Jofre Mateu Gonzalez, a highly popular household name, and one of the most successful foreign players in the Indian Super League. Jofre Mateu won the inaugural 2014 ISL season with Atletico de Kolkata and was a part of FC Goa, the runners-up in the 2015 season.

Jofre Mateu Gonzalez

Jofre Mateu Gonzalez
Source: FC Goa Facebook Page

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Fabulous Warm-Up Game!

Wow. This could be such a brilliant warm-up game for grassroots football coaching! We could modify it to use footballs instead of bibs. And then even try the game out with footballs in hands or feet as more variations of the same game.

Love. Love. LOVE IT! ❤

Hope all you wonderful coaches out there find this useful! Shine on!

Advice from Wayne Rooney

We were trawling across the internet for something nice to share here when we stumbled upon this excellent video (at the end of this post) of Wayne Rooney.

Advice from Wayne Rooney

Here, he offers advice from his rich experience as a pro that young footballers could definitely benefit from:

1. First Touch: This is something any decent football coach will always tell us – the importance of mastering the ball and commanding it to do what we want. How does one develop it? Practice. More practice. And then some more. Whether it’s juggling, jogging/running with the ball at our feet for a significant distance, or what have you, the more touches we get of a football every day, the better it will be to develop our touch. Here’s what Wazza has to say about it:

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Bangalore Youth to Represent India in World Street Football Festival

The UEFA European Championship is something we are all familiar with. It comes as a pleasant reminder that the World Cup is only 2 years away, and gives us a small dose of what we can expect in the coming couple of years. This year’s Euro Cup is sure to be a good one. Defending champions Spain and World Cup winners Germany will both be after their 4th Euro title. Apart from the epic battle for the title, this year’s Euro Cup has something else worth watching. They have their own official event, the Street Football Festival that will be held from 28th June 2016 to 7th July 2016 in Lyon, France. The unique event aims to uplift underprivileged children by using football as a tool of change.

The festival will bring together 80 youth teams from disadvantaged communities all over the world, and give them an opportunity to take part in a one-of-a-kind multicultural experience. It will serve as a platform for youth to share their knowledge, expertise and experience with one another while also developing new opportunities and partnerships between network members. The Dream a Dream trust is one of the network members of the festival, and they have chosen 4 youth from Bangalore to represent India during the football festival in France in June and July 2016.

Street Football Festival Announcement

The Street Football World Kick-Off Announcement
Source: Street Football World Festival Site

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Season 2 of Chennai’s Schools Premier League Kicks Off

The impact of Premier League, La Liga and Bundesliga broadcasts on cable television combined with the growing influence of the two-year-old Indian Super League have been instrumental in bringing football into India’s consciousness. Today, everybody from school children to office-going senior executives are enjoying a kickabout at the numerous 5-a-side football turfs popping up all over the country. Interestingly, football has captured the imagination of people in regions where it has traditionally played second fiddle to cricket.

In this context, it is encouraging to see greater numbers of grassroots programs taking off in cities like Chennai, home of defending ISL champs, Chennaiyin FC. The latest boost to grassroots football in Chennai has come from the launch of Schools Premier League – Season 2, which has been graciously sponsored by Radiance Developers. Started in 2014, this year’s league features 16 school teams split into two groups. All schools in a group will play each other once and the top two teams from each group go on to qualify for the semi-finals.

Schools Premier League Launch 1

Celebrating the start of SPL – Season 2
Source: Chennaiyin FC Facebook

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#NeverGiveUp

Baby Learning to Walk

Chhetri to Kick-Off Nationwide Talent Hunt

Paul Breitner, legendary German World Cup winner, recently spoke about how India could become a powerful footballing country in a couple of decades. While people may have scoffed or laughed at him, claiming that India’s forte is cricket or hockey, it’s important to remember that football is going through quite a transition in the country. Today’s youth watch the Premier League and Champions League like it’s going out of style, and the ISL has gripped audiences of all ages. So, maybe there is a bit of truth in the ex-German footballer’s prediction.

Doing his bit is Indian football captain, Sunil Chhetri, who is working on developing the sport in the country. One of only 3 footballers from the subcontinent to play abroad, Chhetri is sure to give the youth some valuable input on what they can do to become better and play better. His stint at Sporting Clube de Portugal (better known as Sporting Lisbon) in 2012 gave a ray of hope to aspiring footballers in India, letting them know that one day they too can play in the big leagues. Although Chhetri did not spend a lot of time with the Primeira Liga team, he’s partnered with them again to do something far more interesting.

The national captain has been named brand ambassador of an initiative called DreamChasers, which has him going on a nation-wide hunt to find 15 talented youngsters between the ages of 8 and 14. After 15 days of scouting across 9 cities, the selected youth will be shifted to the Dr. Cyrus Poonawala International School in Kolhapur, where they will train under top-class coaches and technical experts from Sporting Lisbon.

Sunil Chhetri Sporting Lisbon

Sunil Chhetri Playing with Sporting Clube de Portugal
Source: Sunil Chhetri Facebook Page

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U15 Youth League – The Zonal Phase Ends

On Friday, the U15 Youth League zonal phase came to an end. The final12 matches were played over 4 days last week, and here’s a quick look at the scores:

I League U15 Group A Results Week 2

 

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1st Mumbai FC Masters League Season Ends on a High

After 6 weeks, the inaugural season of Mumbai FC Masters League supported by the MDFA came to an end yesterday. Over the past few weekends, more than 1700 children from over 40 different schools and 30 academies played football at three venues all over Mumbai. Matches were held at Andheri Sports Complex, St Xaviers Ground, Parel, and Kick Football Turf in Powai.

Mumbai FC worked together with the Mumbai District Football Association (MDFA) and For Young Indians (FYI) Sports to give the youth of the city a chance to play football competitively. Mumbai FC also used the league as a way to scout talented youth that they could train for their own youth teams. At the end of the league, 15 students from each age category (U8 boys, U10 boys, U12 boys, U14 girls and U14 boys) will be chosen to train with Mumbai FC for a whole year for free. As an open league, there were schools, academies and even NGOs who participated, with schools like Don Bosco and St. Pauls, and academies like Mumbai Sporting and Christ Academy sending in numerous teams.

U8 Boys Final

St. Pauls play Millat FC in the U8 Finals

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Innovative Ways to Develop Coordination in Kids

Lauri Pihkala, a Finnish coach, and one of the first people to receive an honorary doctorate in Sport Sciences, once said something that holds true even today. He said: “Boys, don’t be in a hurry to join the men.”

Simply put, it’s important that we let children be children, and don’t rush them into becoming the world’s best football player at the tender age of 7. Kids need to be given the time and space they need to be able to master their physical coordination skills. They need to learn how to balance themselves properly while playing sport. For children between the ages of 4 and 8 especially, motor skills, balance, posture, spatial reasoning and agility are far more important than learning how to actually bend a ball like Beckham.

As coaches and parents, we sometimes forget that kids just want to play a sport for fun, or to learn, and we end up trying to teach them skills that they are far too young for, because we want to see them win. Kids need to master their bodies before they master any sport. While standing on one foot for at least 10 seconds, or using the agility ladder are common methods of helping kids develop their physical coordination, it can sometimes be boring and quite gruelling for the kids. Here’s how some youth trainers use exercise balls and balloons to teach kids the same kind of skills while making sure they have some fun!

PARA TODOS LOS QUE TRABAJAN EN LA PRIMERA FASE DE INICIACION (4-8 Años)Trabajo de psicomotricidad, equilibrio, postura corporal, localización espacial, aspectos coordinativos… Ejercicios estáticos o dinámicos que cultivan la conciencia del propio cuerpo y de la relajación de los músculos, con el fin de mejorar la postura y la coordinación de movimientos. ¿Qué os parece esta propuesta de sesión?A mi me parece espectacular!! Si un niño no es capaz de dominar su cuerpo…¿Cómo va a dominar el balón? Por eso hago tanto hincapié en estas edades en la realización de estos tipos de trabajos. Os invito a probarlo con vuestros niños y que nos cuenten como les ha funcionado. Un abrazo amigos, que paséis buen fin de semana!!!!! 😉

Posted by Agustin Lleida – Preparador Fisico Club Pachuca on Friday, February 12, 2016

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