Blasters eye budding footballers from City

Hyderabad Football Academy (HFA) collaborated with the ISL team Kerala Blasters FC on Wednesday with an aim to promote the culture of football and put back Hyderabad on the world of football map.

HFA, established in December, 2014 with six footballers, now has reached 300. The Academy is in search of more footballers to nurture their talent and technique to promote them to Kerala Blasters FC and further to the national team as well.

“There has not been a proper platform for footballers in Hyderabad. We envisioned HFA should provide all the requirements to all the talented kids so that they will shine and play for the Indian football team,” said the director of HFA, Tejo Ananth Dasari.

“The main aim of the Academy is developing the game at the grassroot level. We have five coaching centers (Turfside, The Street, Cyclone, Rockwell International School, Astro Park) but we are looking to increase it to 10 in and around the City by the end of this year,” said Ananth.

HFA also introduced the grassroots football talent development program in the school curriculum. The students of Rockwell International School are encouraged to play the sport as a part of their curriculum.

Kerala Blasters FC’s co-owner Nimmagadda Prasad while referring to the football history of Hyderabad said, “In the 1956 Melbourne Olympics Indian football team was ranked No. 4. Interestingly most of the team players were from Hyderabad.”

“We will support talented footballers in Hyderabad because now there is a need to bring back past glory,” Prasad added.