Tag: Youth Football (page 4 of 5)

U15 Youth League Week 4: Dempo Start on a High

November 23, 2015 / / 0 Comments

GFI U15 Youth League - Week 4

It’s been 4 weeks since the Hero Under-15 Youth League kicked-off, and the competition is really heating up! The Goa Zone (Group C) started off the week’s proceedings, when Dempo Sports Club U15 handed Sporting Club de Goa U15 a 5-0 hammering on Tuesday. Dempo were quick to start, scoring as early as the 9th minute. Baggio Fernandes then netted the ball in the 30th minute again, giving Dempo a 2-0 lead before half time. In the second half, Aaron Alvarez fired a brace, and assisted a third to give Dempo a massive 5-0 victory.

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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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AC Milan Trains #TheFuture

October 31, 2015 / / 1 Comment

It’s always fantastic when one of Europe’s leading youth academies opens its doors to the world and offers a glimpse of how they go about their youth development. There’s much to learn.

Through this fantastic video, we get a chance to understand how seriously European powerhouse and Serie A football club, AC Milan, takes the development of young footballers. Further, the video highlights how the club grooms talented youngsters and teaches them what the sport is all about. Starting at ages as young as 9 and 10-years-old, AC Milan ensures that the children maintain a balanced life and keep up good grades while training to become professional footballers.

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FutureStars Football Academy – Coaching Rising Stars

October 29, 2015 / / 1 Comment

FSFA LogoFootball-loving brothers Saahil and Sanil Desai decided to set up FutureStars Football Academy (FSFA), a grassroots football academy in Mumbai in 2012. Their motivation behind opening the academy was to take their passion for football to the next level, and give young children a chance to be active while falling in love with the beautiful game. The brothers started playing football at a young age, and today they hope to pass on this love to all the children who come to the Academy. GFI had a chance to interview Co-Founder and Director Saahil Desai. Here’s what he had to say.

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U Dream Football Gives Talent a Chance

October 27, 2015 / / 0 Comments

U Dream FootballEvery young footballer dreams about making it to the big leagues. Every child starts playing football as a hobby, but for some, football becomes their whole life. U Dream Football is a program that helps those individuals who want to make it big in the football world. The program works under the guidance of Bundesliga and in association with TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. The U Dream Football program started in 2014 to scout for talented individuals who were Under-15, but had a flair for football. After screening more than 10,000 students in over 800 schools across the country, program coaches from Germany shortlisted 15 of India’s finest U-15 footballers, and took them to Germany earlier this year to train at the club’s youth training academy in Zuzenhausen for the next 6 years.

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Is Pelé’s Visit Enough to Revive Football in India?

October 21, 2015 / / 0 Comments

In 1888, India held the first ever Durand Cup. Almost every year since then, spectators have watched for free, and last year’s winners were awarded Rs. 50 lakh as prize money. Once the British left, the Indian Armed Forces took over, and they have done a great job of keeping the cup and the sport alive for over 125 years. Unfortunately, this year the Durand Cup will not be played. Ironically, while the age-old football tournament was being cancelled, the city of Kolkata was getting ready to welcome football legend Pelé back to their city after 38 long years.

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QPR’s South Mumbai Football Tournament Begins

October 19, 2015 / / 1 Comment

The 7th edition of the Queens Park Rangers South Mumbai Junior Soccer Challenger (QPR SMJSC) kicked off on Saturday, 17th October, at the Western Railway Stadium in Parel. Brainchild of former Union Minister, Milind Deora, the Soccer Challenger that started in 2009 has grown extensively in the last few years. The entire programme was started to unearth football talent at a grassroots level, and give those who come from less privileged backgrounds a chance to play sport.

Among one of India’s largest and longest-running community football events…

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Why Do You Love Football?

October 15, 2015 / / 0 Comments

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SEPT – Bringing Hope to Football in Kerala

October 13, 2015 / / 5 Comments
SEPT Football Nursery

SEPT Football Nursery

“Those days, back in the 1990s, a footballer from Kerala was looked upon with awe,” remembers IM Vijayan, a native of Kerala and one of the greatest footballers India has ever produced. Reminiscing further, he says, “You guys are tigers, they used to tell me. Outstanding talents just continued to flow out of our tiny state. The quality of our players surprised everyone. We had V. P. Sathyan, C. V. Pappachan, U. Sharaf Ali, K. T. Chacko, Kurikesh Mathew, Mathew Varghese, Jo Paul Ancheri…”

It’s true. There was a time when Kerala footballers even formed the majority of the Indian national team. “I remember having around nine players from Kerala at an Indian camp,” says Vijayan. “And there were occasions when five of us actually made the eleven.” Since then, there has been a mighty fall from grace.

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