Tag: Grassroots Football (page 2 of 7)

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

Mumbai City FC & AIFF Conduct Grassroots Leadership Workshop

Mumbai City FC joined hands with AIFF to conduct a grassroots leadership workshop from 5th to 7th February at the Vidyadhiraja School and Junior College in Bhandup, Mumbai. A total of 27 participants attended the three-day workshop with girls comprising nearly 50% of the group. The workshop, headed by chief instructor, Dinesh Nair, included both theoretical as well as practical sessions, and on the last day, the participants organised a grassroots festival.

Grassroots Workshop Theory Session

Participants in a Theory Session
Source: Mumbai City FC Facebook Page

Numerous participants were from the host school itself, and as part of the theory sessions, they learnt about grassroots philosophy, the importance of small-sided games, characteristics of age groups, fair play and racism, coordination agility and motor skills, football laws and fundamentals, as well as management and injury prevention techniques.

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FC Bayern U16 Youth Cup: From Mumbai to Munich

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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U15 Youth League – Group A Off to a Great Start

Once Shillong Lajong FC U15 beat Gauhati Town Club U15 last Friday, we thought we were done with the U15 Youth League for a while, but a new Zone A started their matches on Sunday, and we’ve had three action-packed days of football since! Here’s a quick look at the scores of matches played this last week:

I League U15 Group A Results Week 1

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India on Track Encouraging Grassroots & Youth Football

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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ASA Footballers Unbeaten in Maiden U15 Youth League Appearance

The 2015-16 season has been a great time for football at the Anantapur Sports Academy (ASA). The boys have been performing well, ever since the ASA joined hands with Fateh Hyderabad Associated Football Club (FHAFC) to support them in their I-League debut.

It all started when Fateh Hyderabad signed ASA’s senior-most player, S. Bhaskar Reddy to play for their I-League Division 2 team. This was followed by the signing of all the senior U18 ASA boys and U15 ASA boys to play in the IU18 I-League and U15 Youth Leagues for Fateh Hyderabad, respectively.

ASA Team Warms Up

Warming Up Before a Game
Source: ASA

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U15 Youth League – Zonal Phase Nears Conclusion

The zonal phase of the U15 Youth League is nearing its end. Over the past three weeks, Groups E and F played all their matches, and the last few matches of the Guwahati-Shillong Zone (Group D) were also played. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights of these matches, before we look back on how the first 6 groups ended the zonal phase.

SLFC U15 Celebrating

Shillong Lajong FC’s U15 Celebrate a Win
Source: Shillong Lajong FC Facebook Page

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Star Sports Young Heroes Gear Up for Spain

Star Sports Young Heroes Program

Coach Jamshid Nassiri shares tips with the boys
Source: Young Heroes Facebook

In August last year, Star Sports launched an interesting campaign called Young Heroes. A unique scouting and Under-15 football tournament, the campaign was started to boost grassroots football in the country, and unearth hitherto unknown football talents for the future. Conducted in 15 cities across India, around 60 to 100 schools from each city were invited to participate in the Young Heroes program. The competition attracted approximately 420,000 students  and matches were played for two days in every city. These matches were attended by a group of scouts headed by ex-Iranian football international, Jamshid Nassiri, who selected 3-4 boys from each team to participate in a training camp.

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Football for Fun

For children, playing a sport is important – not just because it benefits them physically, or socially, but because they have fun. They get to meet different children, and learn about new experiences. Running around with their friends, scoring a goal, or joining in the celebrations when a friend scores a goal – that’s what kids care about, and that’s why they play sport.

Grassroots football plays an important role in trying to keep that spark alive in children. Football coaching, or coaching in general, isn’t just about being the coach with the team that wins, it’s about being the coach who is respected, and being the coach who kids want to train with. We need to remember what it felt like to be young, and run about with friends and have fun. Sport isn’t always about winning or losing – it’s about learning how to play the game right, and having a jolly good time while you do!

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