A Great Project in Bangalore

I spent the week in Bangalore a few weeks ago for meetings and to scout possible venues for the next set of FCBarcelona Soccer Camps. It was a great trip as I had the opportunity to travel all over this cool city to learn more about the grassroots football scene and check out existing infrastructure.


The best part of the trip was spending time at the beautiful Bangalore Football Stadium. This centrally located stadium is equipped with artificial turf which was gifted to the Karnataka State Football Association through the FIFA “Goal” program. Better than looking at the stadium was learning about and experiencing the beauty of what was actually taking place on the pitch.
Each day I was there, I had the opportunity to watch 50 young boys from underserved communities receive free training from the Dutch Academy (KNVB) and local Indian coaches. This is all was provided through  CSR initiative created by the Ozone group and supported on the ground by Bangalore Youth Football League. The daily training from world class coaches was provided free of charge for the boys who had qualified for the academy through a trial process.

For me it was great to see a program of this caliber run for those who dream of playing football professionally but can’t afford proper training gear let alone coaching from top coaches from the West.

Here are some pictures from the camp…




Founder and head of BYFL - Adhip Bhandary

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

3 Cities, 3 Football Academies

Image
Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to visit a few of the top youth football Academies in India.  It’s always interesting to see first-hand some of the blood, sweat and tears football administrators are investing into the future of the sport in the country.  Not to mention, I love experiencing different cultures, norms and idiosyncrasies in each place I visit (there are many).  I won't get too deep into my personal adventures and challenges of traveling through West Bengal and Punjab in the insanely hot month of May.  I'll need to save those for another blog.   I've included the places I’ve visited with some pictures. Pailan World School (Kolkata) http://www.pailanworldschool.com/ Workers putting in artificial turf for the new FIFA Youth Academy Chandigarh Football Academy http://chandigarh.gov.in/dept_sports7.htm The hostel where the CFA players live YFC Rurka Kalan (Rurka Kalan, Punjab) http://yfcrurka
Read more

Liverpool International Football Academy Coaches – Ray Curtis and Michael Rice

Image
The last half of 2013 was one ongoing conversation about the proposed partnership between Liverpool Football Club and our client DSK Group.  We all knew that only good could come out of this relationship, however we also knew that the level of good would be contingent on the coaches which Liverpool FC selected to represent the Academy in India.  This point couldn’t be hammered home any harder as I’ve seen countless projects fail in India due to the international club’s inability to identify the right type of coaches to make the trip to India. It’s not that these coaches lacked technical expertise or coaching ability, actually that’s never the case, it’s that they lacked a positive attitude and patience.  I actually wrote a post about this which can be found a few months back.  The coaches selected to run the Liverpool International Football Academy DSK Shivajians, Ray and Michael, were handpicked by a trusted member of the Liverpool FC international programming staff.  He had alr
Read more

My Love Affair With Kolkata

Image
It’s easy to love someone or something during the good times, but the true test of love is seen during the more challenging moments. The first time I set foot in the mad city of Kolkata, I fell in love. Since then, I’ve been falling deeper and deeper in love with the former Indian capital each time I return to the city or meet a Bengali.  My love was tested this past week. I had to travel to Kolkata for a few meetings and initially I was over the moon. Given that I was in love with everything Kolkata and it is a "football heaven  http://liveindia-lovesoccer.blogspot.in/2010/01/calcutta-football-heaven.html , there was no reason for me not to be excited.  Then a few days before I picked up a nice fever with runny nose, headache and body pains all included.  Although I was unwell, it wasn't going to stop me from being with my love. I arrived in the city in the morning and, as soon as I got off the plane, the May Kolkata heat hit me hard. Real hard. The aches and
Read more