Teenager joins Dutch club’s U-15 squad
Delhi lad Kshitij Kumar Singh of Reliance Foundation Young Champs, has joined the Netherlands-based NEC Nijmegen club for their Under-15 youth squad.
NEC Nijmegen are a professional football club, who compete in the Dutch Eerste Divisie, the second tier of the country’s football structure.
Nijmegen play at the top most level in the Dutch youth leagues and also competes against top European clubs in international age specific tournaments.
Kshitij, a second year batch student of RFYC’s residential football programme, had been to the Netherlands for two rounds of trials with PSV Eindhoven and NEC Nijmegen earlier this year before his selection in the NEC youth team.
The 13-year-old began playing football at the age of six, initially with the Baichung Bhutia Academy and then at FCB Escola.
The forward was an early talent to be spotted by Piet Hubers, technical director of the Indian Super League grassroots at the Delhi Dynamos scouting festival for RFYC scholarship in 2016.
Since last June with RFYC, Kshitij has participated in 29 competitive and friendly games, scoring 31 goals, providing 25 assists.
Speaking on his selection, Kshitij said, “I’m very excited to join NEC youth team. I want to thank all my coaches and fellow players at RF Young Champs who have motivated me to perform better continuously. I would love to play for the Indian national team in the future.”
Reliance Foundation’s founder chairperson Nita Ambani said Kshitij’s selection was a benchmark for more opportunities for talented players in the country.
The 13-year-old Kshitij began playing football at the age of six, initially with the Baichung Bhutia Academy and then at FCB Escola