Hi guys. I need some help here. So, I spoke to some guys at North East United regarding the possibility of expanding their reach in the north east. I have spoken to a few licensed clubs in Tripura and they seem excited. I just received this in my mail today.
Hi Abheek ,
We would like to discuss your ideas for the grassroots program .. Please list out some of those ideas and we could meet next week about it ..
What are your suggestions that I should include in my pitch? Let me remind you that Tripura doesnt have professional clubs so we have to take a new approach towards development there. Shoot your ideas.
It really depends on how much money they have and how much drive and willingness.
Obviously the basics should be taken care of like a proper pitch to play/practice on, uniforms and boots for all players, proper area to change/get ready, water and nutrition, and a coach willing to teach the best he can.
The football culture in Tripura isn't as predominant as other north eastern states. The Tribal population prefers football and the non tribals prefer cricket. I personally played cricket for my state and we sucked at it. Primarily because we didn't play all year long,we'd end up playing 5 matches in the whole year against giants in cricket like Bengal,Jharkhand etc and suffered humiliating defeats. We had no one to look up to,there was nobody from the state who made it big, which is very important for a young kid at that age, gives you hope and fuels your drive.
Coming to the point of training and playing competitive matches all year, I think the best place to start is a School Sunday League that runs for 6 to 7 months,almost like a feeder for LAJONG or NE united. We can get C license holders to come in and scout young players and train them and other coaches. These kids from interior villages have no other source to get out of the pit, this could be a great for them. They can be taken to Shillong for further training.( for the time being)
Official Feeder:
The Local licensed clubs in Tripura are just a bunch of money mongers, opportunists who don't care about the game. It would need people who've worked at Lajong to set the standards and see that management follows it strictly. Then comes the technical aspects of training facilities. Pitch, Kit, diet,physio,psychologists, coaches. And build on infrastucture. This could take some time though, but I know the King of Tripura, he's really into building a foundation there. He'll put in money for the basics at least. ( I am just brainstorming and building on the plan sorry if it doesn't make sense, help me out here?)
Get Pradyot to invest in a soccer-school and start there. Start with getting a ground or 2 with a school nearby and start at the youngest possible ages :
Getting the coaches is easy, but make sure you have guys with some knowledge of youth development, MOST Indian "youth" coaches just cut & paste the same sessions you see with seniors with youth teams;
You don't need psychologists, nutritionists etc at this stage , a good coach & admin should be able to ensure proper diet & environment , if need be , bring in a consultant for short visits.
Lajong is not a model I would follow, they have 90% of their kids over aged, something that has been going on for quite a while. One of the reasons why their "U-19" managed to do OK in the I-League last season...
Have a genuine youth system, if you are starting from scratch , it is only such schools that can make the difference or we just follow the same age cheating of most clubs , academies ,all the more important as this is in NE
Yeah these are very good points. I think we'll currently work on growing the culture there having long tournaments will ensure that football is a part of their life and not just one tournament a year thing.
Yeah I was talking about the nutritionist and psychologist for senior players who play the local league, getting a team from there to qualify for second division will be quite awesome for the state.
Absolutely right about over age players, it's a shame that it happens everywhere in India. I think a school league with social media visibility for students will do wonders. I am meeting the NE united guys next week let's see what they have in mind.
I remember one time we were playing against Bengal and they scored 480 in a day or something ( 3 day match) This one guy hit us all over the ground. During tea I heard the umpires talking " Yeh timing waale shots nahi hai taaqat waale shots hai hai" This was Under 15 with guys at least 42 years old.
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