Steve Mcmahon Academy
usaindia
1671 Points
looks like academy started
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Kids enrolled at the academy, whose chief coach and mentor is the former England and Liverpool player, had their first training session at the Genesis Global ground in Noida on Saturday.
After a brief session with the kids, former English footballer Paul Masefiel, who is McMahon's assistant at the academy, said, "If we are doing so much (in terms of promoting the sport) we hope to bring Liverpool to India in the near future."
Masefield said that the aim is to produce someone like Sachin Tendulkar in Indian football.
"We have to create role modes like Sachin Tendulkar and Baichung Bhutia who have played against better teams abroad to develop his game. He has been fantastic for Indian football.
"The talented ones will be taken to Liverpool where they can develop their skills."
Even though the academy is charging an exorbitant fee of Rs 45,000 annually, they said they will make provisions for the ones with extraordinary talents even if they struggle to pay the fees.
"This is not a finishing school. And compared to sending kids to other countries to obtain training, it is much cheaper," said Gurveer Singh, sports director at Genesis.
The academy will cater to kids from age-group of eight to 16 with the aim of targeting them at young age so that maximum time can be spent with the kids in developing them into players of the future, not just for the India's national team but also to enable them to have the opportunity to play at the highest level in Europe.
"It's an opportunity not just to nurture but educate them on nutrition, player management and teach life skills," Masefield said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/football/top-stories/Liverpool-visiting-India-a-possibility/articleshow/10198002.cms
Genesis Global School hosted the first training session of Steve McMahon Football Academy (SMFA), the official football academy of English Premier League giants Liverpool on October 1. The session was held under the watchful eyes of Paul Masefield, the former England Footballer who is an assistant coach to Liverpool legend Steve McMahon at SMFA.
In an interview to Samikshan Dutta Choudhury of Indian Sports News, Paul Masefield speaks about the academy motives, plans and vision. Excerpts:
ISN: Congratulations for the successful start to your SMFA in India. How do you thing things would shape up in future?
Paul: Thanks a lot. It is still very early to comment on this. But yeah we see a lot of talent and if we are able to do things as planned we would surely do wonders.
ISN: Is this association a move to promote SMFA in India or to develop the scene of Indian football?
Paul: I would say love for football. Through this academy we not only want to produce good footballers who would go and play in the big leagues of the world, but also good human beings. Our association with Genesis Global School would be to search for talents and give the clear pathway. We want to educate them about football and also to help Indian Football.
ISN: What do you think is proving detrimental for Indian football?
Paul: See let me make one thing clear, there is no shortage of talents in India as assumed by others. How a country with such a huge population would not have talent? The main problem I guess is infrastructure and this is the problem of whole of Asia. Only two countries which have excelled from this part of the World are Korea and Japan.
ISN: So how do you think can you change his scenario?
Paul: Well the first thing we would try to s to develop the infrastructure through private ventures like this and then increase the exposure to the game by coming up with more projects . We would take the players with natural talents to play in Europe and expose them to highest level of football. We would try to find “Sachin Tendulkar” of Indian football.
ISN: This is a great venture. But why did you not try and come through AIFF rather than schools?
Paul: This is a private venture. It is better off when we are alone. Because coming through the federation would compel us to follows certain guidelines set by them which in turn would hamper us in the quest of what we are trying to achieve.
ISN: How long have you following Indian football? What is your say about it?
Paul: I have been following Indian football for last 15 years. Indian football is changing. But to speed up that development, India need to find more and more Bhaichung Bhutia. Bhaichung is a natural talent and has been a great member of Indian football family. There should more role models like him.
ISN: Are there any possibilities of Liverpool Football Club touring India?
Paul: Yes there are possibilities of Liverpool touring India. Let things start rolling and we would definitely bring them in. But let things go the way we have planned and hope for the best.
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