Clubs get serious in finding young stars
NEW BLOOD A number of teams have promoted players from the reserve side to their first team squads this season
KOLKATA: As per the terms of engagement in 2014, a residential academy was a mandatory requirement for Indian Super League (ISL) franchises by the end of the fifth season. Before that season starts on Saturday, the glass seems half full or less.
Only four of the 10 teams --Jamshedpur FC (JFC), Bengaluru FC, FC Pune City and ATK --have board and lodging facilities for youth teams but even to say that could be misleading. That is because the Tata Football Academy (TFA) has been around longer than JFC, being incorporated into the set-up when they joined the ISL. Bengaluru FC’s residential academy, which now has 48 cadets, too predates their joining the ISL. And FC Pune City took over the academy run by the former I-League club Pune FC in 2016.
But there are reasons for the lack of organic development on this front. Foremost are the licensing criteria that franchises must fulfil from last season. While it is mandatory to have under-13, under-15 and under-18 teams, a residential academy is not. To invest in one, clubs must also have a vision beyond the initial 10-year agreement. Foster homes for young players, like JFC’s Tim Cahill had when he travelled to England, as an alternative too is difficult as it wouldn’t be easy to, say, find a family in Chennai for a 14-yearold from Mizoram. To get around that, reigning champions Chennaiyin FC have gone local. Their under-13 and under-15 squads only have players from Tamil Nadu with over 90% of them from the Chennai district.
Delhi Dynamos have taken a different route by signing a twoyear deal with the Aspire Academy in Doha. The knowledge transfer agreement helps them send players to Doha --- like they did with 18-year-old midfielder Shubham Sarangi who spent six months there. FC Goa have mapped the state, scouted players --- it is easier to do that in a place where the sport is a way of life --and formed age-group teams that play in youth tiers of the Goa league. ATK, who have 27 players in the under-13 side, 25 in the under-15s and 28 in the under-18 squad, signed up with a school in Barasat, some 25km from Kolkata, to groom those they have scouted.
From last season, most franchises have also started a reserve team that played in the second division of the I-League. A number of teams have promoted players from the reserve team to their first team squads this term.
“As a club we pride ourselves in bringing players through to the senior team. The club has been successful by keeping faith in that philosophy and we want to continue to build on those values,” said Chennaiyin FC coach John Gregory. From their reserve side, the champions have promoted Hendry Antonay, Bedashwor Singh and Zonunmawia to the first team squad.
“You want to be able to pick from a bunch that is following your philosophy every single day at training and it’s always a nice feeling when someone comes through the ranks to make the senior team,” said Bengaluru FC coach Carles Cuadrat who was part of Barcelona, a club known for promoting talent from within.
“I am taking a personal interest in what they are eating, how they are going about the recovery sessions and how they are training,” said Cahill, referring to the three from TFA who are now his teammates. One of them, forward Gourav Mukhi, is 16.
The pyramid structure of youth teams and reserve sides with the first team at the top is far from complete. A big gap is the absence of an under-23 league which means there is no clear pathway for players after they are 19. Also, the number of games youth and reserve teams get in top leagues is over 30; in India they would be lucky to get half that many.
But then, as Cahill has said, the ISL needs to go at its own pace instead of comparing itself with countries that have had a headstart in trying to develop a strong league.
REIGNING CHAMPIONS CHENNAIYIN FC HAVE GONE LOCAL. THEIR U13 AND U15 SQUADS HAVE PLAYERS FROM TAMIL NADU WITH OVER 90% OF THEM FROM CHENNAI