Tag: Football Coaching (page 1 of 3)

Bengaluru FC Announces Launch of Residential Academy

July 18, 2016 / / 6 Comments

As a part of their endeavour to promote elite football talents and train players from a young age, Bengaluru FC hosted a press conference earlier this week to announce their plans of setting up a residential academy at the JSW Township in Vijayanagar, Bellary. COO Mustafa Ghouse, CTO Mandar Tamhane and newly appointed Head of Youth Development, John Kila, spoke to the press from the club’s offices at Bangalore Football Stadium.

Bengaluru FC PressCon

JSW Bengaluru FC CTO Mandar Tamhane, Head of Youth Development John Kila, and COO Mustafa Ghouse
Source: Bengaluru FC Media

The club will scout for talent in Bengaluru, Kerala, Mizoram, Punjab and Chandigarh. Currently, they are only looking for youth in the Under-16 and Under-18 age categories. Those players who display exceptional talent during the first round of trials will be shortlisted, and will have to undergo a final selection, before the chosen candidates will relocate to the academy in Vijayanagar. At the academy, the selected youth will be provided with accommodation, education and nutrition at no cost with this fully-funded youth development programme overseen by Dutchman, John Kila.

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Swati Salgaocar Follows in Her Grandfather’s Footsteps

March 23, 2016 / / 0 Comments

Based in Vasco in football-crazy Goa, Salgaocar FC has been around since 1956. The club was founded by Vasudev Salgaocar, the founder and President of the V M Salgaocar Group of Companies. Passionate about the sport, Mr. Salgaocar decided to form the club to give local youth a platform where they could showcase their talents. After Goa’s independence from Portugal in 1961, Salgaocar was the first Goan team invited to participate in the prestigious Durand Cup in 1962. Although they did not win, they performed so well that the then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, felicitated the team at his residence.

Salgaocar FC

Salgaocar FC’s First Team
Source: Salgaocar Football Club Facebook Page

In the 1990s, the team went from strength to strength, winning everything from the National League to the Federation Cup. Although, they didn’t perform as well in the early 2000s, they made a hugely successful comeback in the 2010-2011 season by winning the I-League once again. This season, their U-15 team ended the zonal round of the U15 Youth League at the top of the table. They were the only team in the group to end with a positive goal difference, finishing 5 points clear of the runners-up. And they managed all of this by making sure they invested well in their grassroots programme.

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Boca Juniors Football School Comes to Mumbai

March 17, 2016 / / 2 Comments

A product of one of Argentina’s most successful football clubs, Club Atletico Boca Juniors, the Boca Juniors Football School came to India in 2013. Home to legendary footballers like Diego Maradona, Carlos Tevez and Gabriel Batistuta, Boca Juniors was the first South American club to launch in India. Over the past 3 years they have operated in 6 schools across Bangalore, and their youth participated in this season’s U15 I-League tournament.

Maradona at Boca

Maradona Celebrates a Goal for Boca Juniors in 1981
Source: The Antique Football

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Fabulous Warm-Up Game!

March 5, 2016 / / 0 Comments

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!

FC Bayern U16 Youth Cup: From Mumbai to Munich

February 15, 2016 / / 2 Comments

A tightly contested match between Mumbai’s Cathedral and John Connon School and Delhi’s Nalanda Public School brought the curtains down on the adidas FC Bayern Youth Cup India 2016 in Mumbai yesterday.

Bayern Youth Cup Match

The Teams Playing Hard for a Chance to Represent India

After 30 minutes of regulation time and extra-time yielded no goals in the final, the winner was decided by a penalty shootout. Rishi Kothari, Cathedral’s keeper, made some fabulous saves to ensure his school came out on top and will now represent India at the World Finals in Munich in May 2016. Better still, they will get a chance to watch a Bundesliga match at the legendary Allianz Arena! Other youth who stood out during the tournament were Akshunna Tyagi from Nalanda Public School who won the Player of the Delhi NCR Leg award, Krish from St. Lawrence who won the Player of the Mumbai Leg award, and Mundhiir from Treamis World School who won the Player of the Bengaluru Leg award.

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India on Track Encouraging Grassroots & Youth Football

February 10, 2016 / / 0 Comments

In 1971, the Jagatjit Cotton & Textile Football Club (JCT FC) was founded in Punjab. A professional football club, they played in the I-League and the Punjab State Super League for many years, winning numerous tournaments and glorifying the state when it came to football. Unfortunately, a lack of support for the sport led to the team being disbanded after the 2010-2011 I-League season. Despite the first team no longer playing, young talent was still being admitted into the JCT Academy – a full-fledged academy where children have access to education as well as football training. In August last year, in an attempt to revive the once glorious name of JCT, India on Track (IOT) gained ownership of the Academy in Hoshiarpur with the aim of reviving their senior football team, and also introducing foreign coaches into the Academy to boost football in the country.

IOT Scouting Session in Mangolpuri

IOT and Baliga Memorial Trust Conduct a Scouting Session for Children from the Mangolpuri Slums
Source: IOT-Arsenal Football Page

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Activity Breakdown of a Football Match

December 29, 2015 / / 0 Comments

We came across this fantastic breakdown of activities that occur during a football match presented by Ray Power, author of Making the Ball Roll – A Complete Guide to Youth Football for the Aspiring Coach, and it holds several insights for grassroots coaches on how to train our young footballers.

Football Game Activity Breakdown

Football Game Activity Breakdown
Source: Ray Power

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Eloquence is Invaluable

November 25, 2015 / / 0 Comments

There are many roles that coaches play in the development of footballers and there are a fair few qualities that coaches need to be successful. But there are some attributes that truly separate the best from the rest, and one such attribute is eloquence.

The ability to pick the right words, say them in the right way, deliver them at the right time, and, most importantly, to the right people sets a coach apart. There are times when players need a bit of tough lovin’, others when we need to go easy on the lads and still others when they need a bit of fun! Knowing what to say, when to say it, how to say it and whom to say it to makes all the difference.

One man who was capably eloquent was Sir Alex Ferguson. There’s a brilliant story that popped up on Reddit about how the great man, during his time at Aberdeen FC, disciplined the squad in a way that only he could.

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PSL and Mumbai City FC Partnership Boosts Grassroots Football

November 10, 2015 / / 0 Comments

The Phoenix Sports & Leisure Group (PSL) India has been working to develop grassroots football in India over the last few years. They have set up organisations like Soccer Connections and Just For Kicks (JFK), where they coach children in football, talent development, and life skills. While JFK is focused predominantly on transforming education in low-income schools by introducing football to them, Soccer Connections aims to provide focused, fun, and family-oriented football training to children under the age of 12. They conduct their training sessions in affiliated schools, or on professional playing grounds.

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Anantapur Finds Solace in Football

November 4, 2015 / / 3 Comments

ASA LogoAnantapur, once a crucial part of the Vijayanagar Empire, is now a primarily agrarian district with a developing industrial sector. Plagued by drought and poverty, the district is one of the 13 that receives funds from the Backwards Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGFP) in Andhra Pradesh. For many years the people were left quite hopeless, until Vincent Ferrer and his partner Anne decided to start the Rural Development Trust (RDT) in Anantapur in 1969 to improve the quality of life of the rural poor and the underprivileged in the area.

Apart from the work done to educate the people, and uplift the poorer sections of society, the RDT takes a special interest in using sports and cultural activities to give children a holistic education.

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