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: REIGNING CHAMPIONS CHENNAIYIN FC HAVE GONE LOCAL. THEIR U13 AND U15 SQUADS HAVE PLAYERS FROM TAMIL NADU WITH OVER 90% OF THEM FROM CHENNAI THE YOUTH BRIGADE
A residential academy was a mandatory requirement for Indian Super League (ISL) franchises by the end of the fifth season, as per the terms of engagement in 2014. Going into the fifth season, 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 ISL. Bengaluru FC’s residential academy, which now has 48 boys, too predates their joining 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. Moreover, to invest in one the clubs must 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 because it can’t be easy, say, to find a family in Chennai for a 14-year-old 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 Chennai.
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 state 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.
Launched in May 2015, the Reliance Foundation Young Champs programme too has been an indirect part of ISL’s youth development plan. For the first two seasons, they conducted tal- ent hunts with franchises and took the best for a residential programme in Navi Mumbai. The programme now has 60 children spread over four age-groups.
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 and not just spend money for the sake of it,” 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.
“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 the 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 football’s top leagues is over 30; in India they would be lucky to get half as many.
But then, as Cahill said, the ISL needs to go at its own pace instead of comparing itself with Major League Soccer, the Chinese Super League or the A-League. Residential academies: Bengaluru FC (Vijaynagar, Karnataka); FC Pune City (Pune), Jamshedpur FC (Jamshedpur), ATK (Barasat).
All teams have under-13, under-15 and under-18 squads in accordance with AFC licensing criteria. Each of these agegroup squads have between 20 and 30 players.
With ATK too promising to have a reserve team, NorthEast United FC are the only team that doesn’t have one.
The ATK youth team also plays in the Kolkata league and was promoted to the first division from the second division this term. FC Goa play in the youth divisions of the Goa state league. Delhi Dynamos are in the second year of a two-year tie-up with the Aspire Academy in Doha. Last season, midfielder Shubham Sarangi spent six months at the Doha academy as part of this tie-up.
For the first two seasons, the ISL teams also scouted young players from which Reliance Foundation Young Champs (RFYC) academy picked players. The RFYC is a four-star academy residential accredited by the AIFF and has 60 children spread over the under-12, under-13, under-14 and under-16 agegroups.