FC Goa Kicks off the Junior Gaur U-10 League

PANAJI:
Football in India is emerging as one of the top sports and the Hero Indian Super League has played the role of catalyst leading to this change. Over the last few months fans and spectators thronged stadiums across the country to back their favourite teams in a bid for glory. The ISL has done well over the last three years to promote Indian talent on a global scale as the football superpowers have now begun to look at India as a source for world class players.
But football begins at the grassroots level and that’s why FC Goa takes its grassroots programme very seriously. The Goan club kicked off its Junior Gaur U-10 league at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda on 2nd December 2016. The entire FC Goa squad and technical team was present at the event to cheer on the kids in the league opener. FC Goa is the first club to initiate such a project in the U-10 age group.
The league will be played over three months and will involve over 800. The FC Goa U-10 league will involve 64 schools in Goa spread out across eight venues and will be played in a league format over a period of three months. Fr Agnel Higher Secondary School in Pilar, Saraswat Vidhyalaya, St Britto’s Higher Secondary School in Mapusa, St Joseph’s Higher Secondary School Arpora, Ambelim Complex, Fr Agnel Ashram in Verna, Tilamol and St Jospeh Higher Secondary School in Chandor will play host to the 239 matches which will be played over the weekends.
Said Akshay Tandon, President, FC Goa to the young talented players, “We want you to stand where the FC Goa squad is right now. That’s the dream behind what we do at FC Goa. It’s a long journey but it’s about having fun along the way.”
FC Goa CEO, Sukhvinder Singh reiterated the ethos of the club and said, “Football must start young and we are looking to help many kids across Goa take up the sport. Goa is one of the football hubs in the country and we have immense talent in the state. The FC Goa U-10 league is a stride towards involving young children in the beautiful sport”
Sahil Tavora had a word for the young gaurs, “ Want to wish all the kids here all the best. Keep practicing and keep playing and one day we hope to see you in the first squad of FC Goa”.
Former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane once famously said, “I don’t believe skill was or ever will be the result of coaches. It is the result of a love affair between the child and the ball.”The objective of this festival is to engage children to the game of football in a friendly playing environment, where they are encouraged to experience football and begin loving the sport while developing their in
herent talent.
Over the past months FC Goa’s Grassroots Coach, Gavin Araujo, an AFC A license Coach has been working closely with Goa’s young talented footballers while mentoring and coaching Goa’s young footballers. FC Goa’s Grassroots Development Programme which has been in existence since its very first season has seen a tremendous response with budding footballers from schools spread all across Goa, participating in the initiative.
FC Goa has a strong long term plan to develop football at the grassroots level. The club hopes to inspire many young children to take up the sport and to help many youngsters live their dream.