The two city boys who had made it to a 10-day training camp at Celtic FC returned from Scotland recently, itching to try out the soccer tricks they had picked up and dig into home-cooked fish curry.
Jayanta Mondal lives in Dhapa, where his father is a ragpicker, and Bishal Harizan stays with his family in the staff quarters at Salt Lake stadium, where his father is a sweeper. The boys have had to fight the odds to reach the level they have, said Uttam Ghosh, who has been coaching football for 10 years at Sukantanagar Vidya Niketan, where the 14-year-olds study.
“It was a dream experience in Glasgow. We used to train with the Celtic under-19 team in the morning and the under-16 team in the evening. They were faster and stronger but we caught up with their game a bit towards the end of the camp,” said Jayanta, who can play both as right wing and left wing.
“The food in Scotland was a bit of a problem because everything is boiled, from meat to vegetables. But we were so engrossed in the football that we got used to even that,” added the boy, who had his favourite machher jhol aar bhaat (rice and fish curry) within an hour of reaching home.
Stephen Frail, the head coach of the Celtic Youth Academy had picked Jayanta and Bishal, along with Mani Maran R of Bangalore, in May after a four-day camp. Twenty-two players had made it to the camp on the basis of their performances in the inaugural Mahindra Youth Football Inter-city tournament, in which 192 schools had participated. Eleven of the 22 shortlisted players were from Sukantanagar Vidyamandir.
Next year, 25 players would attend the camp. Jayanta, Bishal and Mani, who would outgrow the age limit, would be special invitees to it.
Peter Lowell, the chief executive of Celtic FC, said: “The (Indian) boys acquitted very well for themselves, working with many of our elite squads (in Scotland). We will be keeping a close eye on their future development.”
At Glasgow, the boys’ training involved individual technique tips, multiple sessions of sports science testing, learning the right warm-up techniques with the under-19 team, and daily coaching sessions with the Celtic under-16 team, said a spokesperson for Mahindra and Mahindra.
The boys, huge fans of Cristiano Ronaldo, said they would teach the techniques they had learnt to their team-mates at Sukantanagar apart from keeping tabs on each other’s routines. “Our coaches use some of the practice formats we followed in Scotland, like controlling the ball while zigzagging through plastic cones. But there they do everything much faster,” said Bishal, a forward and a die-hard Barcelona supporter.
“This year has been like a dream. Not only was I able to undergo training at Celtic, I saw my favourite team perform right here at Yuba Bharati Krirangan,” he added.
The boys made friends with Celtic boys, who used to come to their rooms. “The language was a bit of a problem but they were patient and made sure we understood what they were saying,” said Jayanta.
East Bengal food court to pep up Kolkata
By Supriyo Hazra/IBNS
Kolkata, Nov 24 (IBNS): Now fans of Kolkata based football giant East Bengal can connect with their club in a more special way as the club is all set to have their own food court in the next couple of months.
The concept of club merchandising or food court is quite new in India in comparison to the soccer clubs of Europe where the clubs have dedicated merchandise shops.
European soccer giants like Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and even Arsenal have meerchandise shop where fans can go to buy jerseys and other goods associated with the clubs.
However, in India it is quite new concept as far as the food courts and merchandise shops of Indian soccer clubs are concerned.
But the wait is finally over as Bluechip Projects, title sponsor of the East Bengal U-15 side, has taken the initiative to create the East Bengal food court in the 'City of Joy'. The name of the project is 'I-Space'.
Located at the Dum Dum Nager Bazar area of Kolkata, fans can not only taste lip-smacking dishes which will include delicacies from East Begal (now Bangladesh), but also buy jerseys and other merchandise associated with the iconic soccer club of the country.
"First time East Bengal and Bluechip are uniting to form the food court," Ritwik Das, CEO and MD, Bluechip Projects told IBNS.
"These are initiatives to increase club revenue. Mrechandise and all will be avainlable here," Das said.
The court will not only serve tasty cuisines but at the same time it will host special events and talk shows.
Speaking about the reasons behind taking this kind of an initiative, he said: "We travel a lot and have seen Arsenal, Bayern Munich doing their merchandising. We expect some tremendous response with this initiative."
Keeping in mind the large fan base of East Bengal, the price of the goods would be kept at a reasonable range, Das said.
From jerseys to badges, the court will have huge collection of items for customers.
"We know that the fan base of the club is really huge. So we will keep it in such a way that the goods remain affordable to all and at the end of the day take the nostalgia back with them to their residences," Das said.
It was way back in 1920 when East Bengal club was established in Kolkata and since then it has written several glorious chapters in the history of Indian football.
The club holds the record of winning the Calcutta League for consecutively six times from 1970 to 1975. It had aslo won the ASEAN Cup in 2003 by defeating Tero Sassana in Jakarta.
However, apart from the historic point of view the Indian and specially the Bengali supporters of the club will always cherish the rivalry between East Bengal and the other soccer giant from the city Mohun Bagan.
The I-league derby clash between the two clubs is equally popular today and it is proved from the large turn out of audience during the last Derby match between the two clubs at the Salty Lake stadium on Nov 20.
Mohun Bagan won the clash by 1-0 margin but the spirit of the game was cherished by the fans of both the sides.
And now with the food court coming up in the next six months, spectators can even visit the venue on the Derby day and relax themselves with some good food and electrifying football actions along with it.
CHURCHILL BROTHER'S SC have appointed Alfred Fernandes as their first
team Coach......Alfred was appointed after Former Coach Mariano Dias went on to become the Assistant Coach of INDIAN National Football
Team.Alfred was earlier the assistant to Mariano and will take charge of
the Team in GOA PRO League.Mariano has taken 6 month leave from
CHURCHILL BROTHER'S.
Sachin Tendulkar will be crowned
as the 400000000001 God of
India after he completes his
100th century and our Kabaddi
teams which won the world cups
for India will be added to the list
of 'Asuras'
(sorry admin for posting this here but i m deeply hurt by the treatment meted to our kabaddi heroes)
Sachin Tendulkar will be crowned
as the 400000000001 God of
India after he completes his
100th century and our Kabaddi
teams which won the world cups
for India will be added to the list
of 'Asuras'
(sorry admin for posting this here but i m deeply hurt by the treatment meted to our kabaddi heroes)
<!-- s:bow-plusone: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/bow/plusone.gif" alt=":bow-plusone:" title="PlusOne" /><!-- s:bow-plusone: --> ya we are crowned champs in both mens and womens championship yet not able to attract the eyes of government and media...considering this i would say football is in way good position
Bayern Munich football legend Paul Breitner feels 162 ranked India must play regularly against top teams, not fearing embarrassing results, if it want to progress in international football.
so what should aiff do...let our team play against zambia, bayern, south africa then gain some experience which could highly affect our ranking.....or we should play against teams less than 130+ rank and look for fifa points????
Comments
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The two city boys who had made it to a 10-day training camp at Celtic FC returned from Scotland recently, itching to try out the soccer tricks they had picked up and dig into home-cooked fish curry.
Jayanta Mondal lives in Dhapa, where his father is a ragpicker, and Bishal Harizan stays with his family in the staff quarters at Salt Lake stadium, where his father is a sweeper. The boys have had to fight the odds to reach the level they have, said Uttam Ghosh, who has been coaching football for 10 years at Sukantanagar Vidya Niketan, where the 14-year-olds study.
“It was a dream experience in Glasgow. We used to train with the Celtic under-19 team in the morning and the under-16 team in the evening. They were faster and stronger but we caught up with their game a bit towards the end of the camp,” said Jayanta, who can play both as right wing and left wing.
“The food in Scotland was a bit of a problem because everything is boiled, from meat to vegetables. But we were so engrossed in the football that we got used to even that,” added the boy, who had his favourite machher jhol aar bhaat (rice and fish curry) within an hour of reaching home.
Stephen Frail, the head coach of the Celtic Youth Academy had picked Jayanta and Bishal, along with Mani Maran R of Bangalore, in May after a four-day camp. Twenty-two players had made it to the camp on the basis of their performances in the inaugural Mahindra Youth Football Inter-city tournament, in which 192 schools had participated. Eleven of the 22 shortlisted players were from Sukantanagar Vidyamandir.
Next year, 25 players would attend the camp. Jayanta, Bishal and Mani, who would outgrow the age limit, would be special invitees to it.
Peter Lowell, the chief executive of Celtic FC, said: “The (Indian) boys acquitted very well for themselves, working with many of our elite squads (in Scotland). We will be keeping a close eye on their future development.”
At Glasgow, the boys’ training involved individual technique tips, multiple sessions of sports science testing, learning the right warm-up techniques with the under-19 team, and daily coaching sessions with the Celtic under-16 team, said a spokesperson for Mahindra and Mahindra.
The boys, huge fans of Cristiano Ronaldo, said they would teach the techniques they had learnt to their team-mates at Sukantanagar apart from keeping tabs on each other’s routines. “Our coaches use some of the practice formats we followed in Scotland, like controlling the ball while zigzagging through plastic cones. But there they do everything much faster,” said Bishal, a forward and a die-hard Barcelona supporter.
“This year has been like a dream. Not only was I able to undergo training at Celtic, I saw my favourite team perform right here at Yuba Bharati Krirangan,” he added.
The boys made friends with Celtic boys, who used to come to their rooms. “The language was a bit of a problem but they were patient and made sure we understood what they were saying,” said Jayanta.
East Bengal food court to pep up Kolkata
By Supriyo Hazra/IBNS
Kolkata, Nov 24 (IBNS): Now fans of Kolkata based football giant East Bengal can connect with their club in a more special way as the club is all set to have their own food court in the next couple of months.
The concept of club merchandising or food court is quite new in India in comparison to the soccer clubs of Europe where the clubs have dedicated merchandise shops.
European soccer giants like Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and even Arsenal have meerchandise shop where fans can go to buy jerseys and other goods associated with the clubs.
However, in India it is quite new concept as far as the food courts and merchandise shops of Indian soccer clubs are concerned.
But the wait is finally over as Bluechip Projects, title sponsor of the East Bengal U-15 side, has taken the initiative to create the East Bengal food court in the 'City of Joy'. The name of the project is 'I-Space'.
Located at the Dum Dum Nager Bazar area of Kolkata, fans can not only taste lip-smacking dishes which will include delicacies from East Begal (now Bangladesh), but also buy jerseys and other merchandise associated with the iconic soccer club of the country.
"First time East Bengal and Bluechip are uniting to form the food court," Ritwik Das, CEO and MD, Bluechip Projects told IBNS.
"These are initiatives to increase club revenue. Mrechandise and all will be avainlable here," Das said.
The court will not only serve tasty cuisines but at the same time it will host special events and talk shows.
Speaking about the reasons behind taking this kind of an initiative, he said: "We travel a lot and have seen Arsenal, Bayern Munich doing their merchandising. We expect some tremendous response with this initiative."
Keeping in mind the large fan base of East Bengal, the price of the goods would be kept at a reasonable range, Das said.
From jerseys to badges, the court will have huge collection of items for customers.
"We know that the fan base of the club is really huge. So we will keep it in such a way that the goods remain affordable to all and at the end of the day take the nostalgia back with them to their residences," Das said.
It was way back in 1920 when East Bengal club was established in Kolkata and since then it has written several glorious chapters in the history of Indian football.
The club holds the record of winning the Calcutta League for consecutively six times from 1970 to 1975. It had aslo won the ASEAN Cup in 2003 by defeating Tero Sassana in Jakarta.
However, apart from the historic point of view the Indian and specially the Bengali supporters of the club will always cherish the rivalry between East Bengal and the other soccer giant from the city Mohun Bagan.
The I-league derby clash between the two clubs is equally popular today and it is proved from the large turn out of audience during the last Derby match between the two clubs at the Salty Lake stadium on Nov 20.
Mohun Bagan won the clash by 1-0 margin but the spirit of the game was cherished by the fans of both the sides.
And now with the food court coming up in the next six months, spectators can even visit the venue on the Derby day and relax themselves with some good food and electrifying football actions along with it.
team Coach......Alfred was appointed after Former Coach Mariano Dias went on to become the Assistant Coach of INDIAN National Football
Team.Alfred was earlier the assistant to Mariano and will take charge of
the Team in GOA PRO League.Mariano has taken 6 month leave from
CHURCHILL BROTHER'S.
as the 400000000001 God of
India after he completes his
100th century and our Kabaddi
teams which won the world cups
for India will be added to the list
of 'Asuras'
(sorry admin for posting this here but i m deeply hurt by the treatment meted to our kabaddi heroes)
so what should aiff do...let our team play against zambia, bayern, south africa then gain some experience which could highly affect our ranking.....or we should play against teams less than 130+ rank and look for fifa points????