Time for ISL clubs to keep 'youth' side of the bargain
Indian Super League (ISL) side NorthEast United FC (NUEFC) on Wednesday announced the launch of their residential youth academy in collaboration with Shillong United. With this NEUFC became just the second active ISL club -- after FC Pune City (FCPC) -- to have taken up youth development in an organised manner.
That the other six active clubs are yet to develop a proper youth structure suggests the ISL is only beginning to realise the importance of sticking to the league's stated aim of helping develop avenues for younger players to find a way into the sport.
AFC licensing and the hiccups
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has a strict set of conditions for clubs to adhere to in order to be licensed and eligible for participation in AFC's competitions, or indeed in domestic leagues within AFC nations.
Though some exceptions are made every now and then, by and large a licence is granted and subsequently renewed looking at a club's vigour across structural, logistical, administrative lines and on sporting merit. A key factor in this regard, in AFC's own words, is the "establishment of age-group squads", "clear and progressive pathways" and "full allocation of resources to establish, maintain and enhance such structures".
AFC's criteria require clubs to have a minimum of three age-group squads below the main team, with at least two of them being Under-15 and Under-18.
The ISL must now take these steps -- which I-League teams have long embraced -- if it has to adhere to AFC criteria in subsequent seasons. The 2017-18 season is being looked at as an exception by the sport's governing body in Asia, but there will be no excuses in 2018 if the league and its stakeholders want to stay in it for the long run.
Well-prepared newcomers
The two new clubs coming into the ISL fold this year -- Jamshedpur FC and Bengaluru FC - should have little problem in adapting to the stated philosophy of youth development.
The Tata Football Academy has been churning out footballers since 1987 and continues to provide some of the best football talent in the country. So, Jamshedpur FC should provide them an immediate outlet to graduate to professional football while staying part of the same setup. Bengaluru FC launched their academy in their first year of existence in 2013, and added their soccer schools to that a year later. With these two institutions, they have covered football right from players around the ages of seven and nine.
With both the Tatas and JSW Group, owners of BFC, now committing themselves to the ISL, they have a system in place to keep their part of the deal of youth development.
What about the rest?
In 2014, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) launched a three-year plan that sought to implement a goal-oriented approach to "build a strong and structured youth development system to identify talent and create a robust pathway for players". The targets were starting national academies in 2014, developing robust talent-identification systems the following year, having youth academies across all professional clubs in 2016, and devising a well-structured youth development system by the time India hosts the FIFA U-17 World Cup later this year.
While I-League sides have led the way, and for years before the strategic plan was first published, ISL teams have largely found it difficult to engage in any meaningful youth development in the first three seasons, barring sponsorships for the odd inter-school or inter-college tournaments. The most glaring omissions on this front have been teams like Atletico de Kolkata (ATK), FC Goaand Kerala Blasters FC, where the catchment area for an academy system would be the largest, given the popularity of the sport in their regions.
Delhi Dynamos, Mumbai City FC and Chennaiyin FC should also take advantage of the longer season coming up this year to lay the foundations of their youth development plans for the future.
Can this development be done with I-League clubs?
The teams that are yet to start a structured youth development plan can do so in collaboration with I-League clubs, active or otherwise, from around their region.
With no immediate promise of relegation and promotion between the ISL and the I-League, it is unlikely that there would be any overlap of interests if, say, ATK were to approach the academy side of United Sports Club and agree to field a team together in the junior leagues of the I-League. With a longer season, there would be more opportunities for interactions between the younger players and the first team, and for the first team support staff to keep their eye out on outstanding talent emerging from the youth teams.
The lack of continuity in the previous ISLs meant only players involved in the three months of the competition caught the eye of their respective clubs and the world at large. That model will have to change and probably will, with FC Goa's head of youth development Derrick Pereira and FCPC CEO Gaurav Modwel both having talked about the changing economics of the franchise-based league.
The ISL has been a moderately successful tournament in its first avatar, and has made do even with some of the club owners working out of coffee shops during the season in the absence of proper office premises. Can they now step up their game to bring themselves in sync with the developmental goals of the AFC and the AIFF?
It has taken just 3 years for Sanjeev Goenka franchise to become "Aamar Tomar Kolkata" from Atletico de Kolkata. Even the existing Logo has become History. Well done .....Mr. Goenka......hope within next couple of years we may see some more "exciting ( ) changes.
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Time for ISL clubs to keep 'youth' side of the bargain
Indian Super League (ISL) side NorthEast United FC (NUEFC) on Wednesday announced the launch of their residential youth academy in collaboration with Shillong United. With this NEUFC became just the second active ISL club -- after FC Pune City (FCPC) -- to have taken up youth development in an organised manner.
That the other six active clubs are yet to develop a proper youth structure suggests the ISL is only beginning to realise the importance of sticking to the league's stated aim of helping develop avenues for younger players to find a way into the sport.
AFC licensing and the hiccups
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has a strict set of conditions for clubs to adhere to in order to be licensed and eligible for participation in AFC's competitions, or indeed in domestic leagues within AFC nations.
Though some exceptions are made every now and then, by and large a licence is granted and subsequently renewed looking at a club's vigour across structural, logistical, administrative lines and on sporting merit. A key factor in this regard, in AFC's own words, is the "establishment of age-group squads", "clear and progressive pathways" and "full allocation of resources to establish, maintain and enhance such structures".
AFC's criteria require clubs to have a minimum of three age-group squads below the main team, with at least two of them being Under-15 and Under-18.
The ISL must now take these steps -- which I-League teams have long embraced -- if it has to adhere to AFC criteria in subsequent seasons. The 2017-18 season is being looked at as an exception by the sport's governing body in Asia, but there will be no excuses in 2018 if the league and its stakeholders want to stay in it for the long run.
Well-prepared newcomers
The two new clubs coming into the ISL fold this year -- Jamshedpur FC and Bengaluru FC - should have little problem in adapting to the stated philosophy of youth development.
The Tata Football Academy has been churning out footballers since 1987 and continues to provide some of the best football talent in the country. So, Jamshedpur FC should provide them an immediate outlet to graduate to professional football while staying part of the same setup. Bengaluru FC launched their academy in their first year of existence in 2013, and added their soccer schools to that a year later. With these two institutions, they have covered football right from players around the ages of seven and nine.
With both the Tatas and JSW Group, owners of BFC, now committing themselves to the ISL, they have a system in place to keep their part of the deal of youth development.
What about the rest?
In 2014, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) launched a three-year plan that sought to implement a goal-oriented approach to "build a strong and structured youth development system to identify talent and create a robust pathway for players". The targets were starting national academies in 2014, developing robust talent-identification systems the following year, having youth academies across all professional clubs in 2016, and devising a well-structured youth development system by the time India hosts the FIFA U-17 World Cup later this year.
While I-League sides have led the way, and for years before the strategic plan was first published, ISL teams have largely found it difficult to engage in any meaningful youth development in the first three seasons, barring sponsorships for the odd inter-school or inter-college tournaments. The most glaring omissions on this front have been teams like Atletico de Kolkata (ATK), FC Goaand Kerala Blasters FC, where the catchment area for an academy system would be the largest, given the popularity of the sport in their regions.
Delhi Dynamos, Mumbai City FC and Chennaiyin FC should also take advantage of the longer season coming up this year to lay the foundations of their youth development plans for the future.
The teams that are yet to start a structured youth development plan can do so in collaboration with I-League clubs, active or otherwise, from around their region.
With no immediate promise of relegation and promotion between the ISL and the I-League, it is unlikely that there would be any overlap of interests if, say, ATK were to approach the academy side of United Sports Club and agree to field a team together in the junior leagues of the I-League. With a longer season, there would be more opportunities for interactions between the younger players and the first team, and for the first team support staff to keep their eye out on outstanding talent emerging from the youth teams.
The lack of continuity in the previous ISLs meant only players involved in the three months of the competition caught the eye of their respective clubs and the world at large. That model will have to change and probably will, with FC Goa's head of youth development Derrick Pereira and FCPC CEO Gaurav Modwel both having talked about the changing economics of the franchise-based league.
The ISL has been a moderately successful tournament in its first avatar, and has made do even with some of the club owners working out of coffee shops during the season in the absence of proper office premises. Can they now step up their game to bring themselves in sync with the developmental goals of the AFC and the AIFF?
DD Refuses To Divulge Their Marquee Player Before Players Draft
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/videos/sports/dd-refuses-to-divulge-their-marquee-player-before-players-draft.htmlWell done .....Mr. Goenka......hope within next couple of years we may see some more "exciting (