Fateh Hyderabad AFC ropes in Grassroots Football Guru Tom Byer as Co- Owner; Launches ‘One Child, One Ball” Fateh Hyderabad Grassroots Program

Fateh Hyderabad AFC, Tom Byer, Hyderabad, Grassroots, Football, India, Soccer, Yogesh MauryaFateh Hyderabad A.F.C new co-owner Tom Byer announced “One Child, One Ball Fateh Hyderabad Grassroots” program
HYDERABAD, INDIA, OCTOBER 6, 2016: Fateh Hyderabad AFC announced today a unique grassroots football development initiative, “The One Child, One Ball Program” in collaboration with world renowned grassroots football coach, entrepreneur and author Tom Byer in Hyderabad. Together they will be imparting this program with hundreds of kindergartens and primary schools across the city. Tom Byer alongwith Yogesh Maurya and Fateh Hyderabad will introduce bottom-up approach of developing skilled players, with the aim of Hyderabad to become the model of change for India and hopefully the rest of Asia.
 
Announcing the partnership with Tom Byer, Director T3, Yogesh Maurya said “We are here for the long term development of football.  Tom has crossed the globe sharing his experiences and philosophy of introducing kindergarten boys and girls to ball manipulation.  Technique is the foundation of any football player.  His success in Japan and now China is well documented.  He is being courted by the giants of our game across the world, and I feel blessed and fortunate to have him here.  He is my partner, but first and foremost, my mentor and great friend and shares the passion Aditya and I have to see boys and girls enjoy a love for the ball.” 
 
Among the first to sign up for “The One Child One Ball Program” were Iris Florets Group of Schools. Maurya added, “Iris Florets is very committed to football and sports overall at the pre-school age.  They have mandated play areas at all of their pre-schools to ensure physical development (gross and fine motor skill development) and overall health of the children.  Our philosophies match perfectly.”
 
Internationally well known for his football training programs at grassroots level Tom Byer expressed immense excitement on his collaboration with Fateh Hyderabad AFC. “ Fateh Hyderabad is taking a unqiue approach and I believe is setting a new standard for how football clubs in Asia should approach grassroots development.  The One Child One Ball Program is aimed at educating both parents and children between the ages of 2-6 on the importance of basic ball manipulation skills with a football. We have a comprehensive program of India specific seminars, workshops and events for both the parents and children to develop and love this game passionately. 
 
“I strongly believe India has immense scope to build national level and professional level of football stars in the future. We have seen some tremendous individual performances by Hyderabad’s world class badminton and tennis stars.  It’s a great start and highly inspiring. It all starts with educating parents of young children. ”
 
Tom Byer, 55, is known as the godfather of Japanese Youth Football, where his camps, soccer schools, a segment on a Tokyo television children’s program and a monthly feature in a leading manga have taught basic techniques to future stars like Aya Miyama, a member of Japan’s World Cup champion women’s team, and Manchester United’s midfielder Shinji Kagawa.
 
Tom Byer has now been working in China for five years, and is currently the Head Technical Advisor to the Chinese Ministry of Education, and oversees the Beijing Bureau of Education’s pilot kindergarten football program, and is Adidas Grassroots Football Ambassador in China, and AIA Insurance’s Grassroots Football Ambassador for 18 Asian countries.  He is the only foreigner on the Advisory Board of the Chinese Minsitry of Education as the country seeks to become a dominant global power in the sport.  More recently, Byer, an official Technical Advisor with the Asian Football Confederation, is working with UEFA and the German Bundesliga. 
 
The One Child One Ball program emphasises that the child’s most influential teacher is his/her parent.  “The technical philosophy empowers children so that they can go out and practice on their own — one player, one ball. We believe you don’t need a full-size pitch. You don’t need 10 other players. You don’t need to have a coach with you.  ” Tom said.
 
A brief visual presentation of the program showed that a young child does not need a big field and expert coaches to develop their fine motor and coordination skills at such a young age. All they need is the ball and a small space even in the living room of a house to gain these critical skills.   “Dr. John Ratey of Harvard University wrote the foreward and afterward to my book Football Starts At Home is a renowned psychiatrist whose research has well documented the links between exercise and mental and emotional well being of children.”
 
“India has some 100 million children under the age of 5. That’s 200 million parents.  As Tom always reminds me, Uruguay has a lot less people, and they’ve won the World Cup.  Educate the parents and check back in five years,” declares Maurya.
 
Arshiya Afsar, Co-founder & Executive Director of Iris Florets Schools present the launch conference said “Preschool football training is not just about introducing youngsters to the great game; but it can also have positive effects on their whole life. Whether they need a confidence boost, experience of working as a team or just the opportunity to let go and be free, physical play is the answer. Through this association with Fateh Hyderabad’s Football Grassroots program, iris wants to develop essential skills of the children that can be transferred to their everyday lives. Like – co-ordination, balance and concentration, not to mention boosting of self-confidence, teamwork and essential social skills. The obvious advantage to our children from this program will be gross and fine motor skill development, pencil grip, painless writing, even numeracy and colour identification skills. The Grassroots program fits perfectly with our vision to provide Holistic development to the children of our schools with unique and fun teaching. ”
 
Fateh Hyderabad AFC made its debut in the 2nd Division I-League in the 2015-2016 season. The 2nd Division I-League us the 2nd highest tier of National football in the country. After 1 year of valuable experience Fateh Hyderabad AFC is participating in the 2016-2017 I-League 2nd Division Season with a well prepared team mixed with youth and experience. 

Aston Villa to open academy in India

Aston Villa, Football, Soccer, India, Government, artificial turf, academy, grass roots, indian super league, Vijay Goel, Prakesh JavedekarAston Villa’s new owner Tony Xia was in India, meeting government officials to discuss the possibility of setting up an academy and engage with Indian Super League clubs.

Yesterday, the club announced their plans to set up an academy and seek opportunities to tie-up with Indian Super league clubs. The club website said after meeting with Minister of Sports Vijay Goel and the Minister of Education Prakesh Javedekar, Aston Villa will be appointed as an advisor on football. The sport is a part of the national curriculum for Indian state schools.

Villa’s new academy will come up in New Delhi on a property provided by the Municipal Council. The new academy will have state-of-the-art facilities, including an artificial turf.

The report also mentions about a possible tie-up with an Indian Super League side.

Aston Villa Chairman Tony Xia was quoted as saying :

“Aston Villa Football Club, one of the most successful football clubs in the history of English football, plans to expand globally and India is one of the countries where Aston Villa not only wants to have an Indian Super League club but also open football academies all over India!”

#KickForABrick – Chhetri and Ranbir takes the kick!

Lenovo, Sunil Chhetri, Ranbor kapoor, Donosti, Yuwa, Jharkhand, NGO, football, womens football, india, spain, kickforabickAfter the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, the internet is in a frenzy over the #KickForABrick challenge.

While the rest of the world has been busy talking about Iceland’s meteoric rise at the Euro’s 16, Messi’s retirement after Argentina’s loss at the Copa America and other teams such as Germany, Spain, England, Poland etc a section of the Indian audience has been glued on to the #KickForABrick challenge.

 

The video that started it off appeared on Twitter a couple of days ago, and shows Ranbir Kapoor and Mumbai City FC striker & Captain of the Indian Football team Sunil Chhetri passing the ball to one another. They then proceed to challenge their fans to take up the #KickForABrick challenge.

 

 

And here’s the effect it had on fans.

 

From simple kicks

 

 

 

To mind-blowing tricks

 

  To Sketches of footballs made on paper   https://twitter.com/anuragsinha1992/status/749644524012568577   And even human footballs  

 

People have come together to support the YUWA girls in their quest to build a new school.

 

The reason for doing so became clear after we took a closer look at the video. Ranbir and Sunil were heard saying “Every time you kick a ball, the YUWA girls get to add a brick to their new school.

 

A quick google search later, we chanced upon a site where we found out that the girls from the NGO YUWA have travelled all the way to Spain to play at the Donosti Cup-the largest youth football tournament in the world in order to raise funds for their school.
Looks like their story tugged at the internet’s heart strings & sent these people into a #KickForABrick frenzy.

 

And it’s simple to participate. Record your video, send it to +91 7718991766 or upload it on to Facebook & Twitter and challenge your friends using #KickForABrick. For more information, you can log on to http://www.girlswithgoals.in/kick-for-brick

 

And if football, is not your thing, you can simply donate money to fund the YUWA girls’ school on http://girlswithgoals.ketto.org/

 

FC MIDTJYLLAND to select kids for 2 months training stint in Denmark

FC MIDTJYLLAND, Football, Soccer, training, Kids, Bangalore, Denmark, Danish Superliga

April 11, 2016: FC Midtjylland, the prevailing Champions of Danish Superliga, will be conducting an Intensive Football Training Program in Denmark for talented kids aged 12-14 from India. This will be a residential program for 2 months during June & July and will be managed by the Coaches of FC Midtjylland Football Academy, considered to be the best football Academy in Northern Europe.

The Program includes intensive training of 3 hours/day for 4 days in a week with match day over the weekend. Physical strengthening and video analysis sessions are part of the Program.

The Bangalore Selection Camp for the Program will be on 16th April 2016 at Play Arena on Sarjapur Road from 8.30 am onwards. Registrations can be done over mail at fcmindiatrainingprogram@gmail.com or over phone at +91 73495 24234.

PDC Services Pvt Ltd & New World Consulting are managing the Program for FCM.

We have designed this Program to offer a firsthand experience of intensive professional training to talented young footballers from India and this can be used as test bed to plan the future path for the aspiring kids and their parents “said Sunanda Das, Director, PDC Services Pvt Ltd.

Mumbai’s Premier Football League 2016 won by Kick FC

EPL, Football, Mumbai, PIFAThe 4th edition Premier Football League was held at the Ascend International ground from 7 February to 13 March 2016 on Sunday mornings. The league was organised by PIFA.

There were 32 teams,  250 players playing in 4 age categories – U11, U13, U16 and open age.

This year the tournament was played on a league format with the winners declared on the highest number of points after all teams played one another.  It was one of the closest contested league this season with all winners being confirmed on the last day.

The Open Category was won  Kick FC headed by Prasham Shah and the Bajaj brother Yash & Kabir. Runners up – OIS ASB headed by Davi Netto, an ex Brazilian Club player.

The winners of the U16 category was Project Mayhem captained by Amaan Kharachiwala, they pipped Angry Bulls Captained by Ryan Pontis on goal difference.

The winners of the U13 category was Panthers from Ecole Mondiale, captained by Aditya Shivkumar,  they too won on a one goal difference over Youngstars captained by Jordan Narohna.

The U10 was won by OIS United by one point beating Jedi Knights.

The event Energy Drink partner was Fruit Shoot and Refreshment partners was Fruit Aqua.

Chennai – Schools Premier League returns with ISL champions Chennaiyin FC as the partners

Chennai, Schools Premier League, ISL, Chennayin FC, Football, GrassrootsRated one of the best grassroots initiatives, Schools Premier League which was launched in the city in 2014, is back again. After being a massive hit with schools in the first season, the second edition of the league returns with Indian Super League champions Chennaiyin FC as the partners.

It kicked off today at MCC schools. Radiance Sports are title sponsors this season and the league will be called ‘ Radiance Sports – Schools Premier League ‘, whileArtemis Cars have agreed to be associate sponsors.Vidya Mandir won the first edition of the Schools Premier League, beating Velammal School in a nail biting encounter under lights at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

The league will see 16 schools from the city compete in the under-14 age category. The 16 teams will be split into two groups with the top two from each group qualifying for the semi-finals. There are plans to expand the league next year to target more age-group categories and also increase the number of participants.

Chennaiyin FC will provide complete match kits for all the schools in the league. The top performing kids in this league will have a chance to be selected for Chennaiyin FC’s Centre of Excellence program. Newly-appointed Chennaiyin FC assistant coach and technical directorof grassroots Syed Sabir Pasha and the club’s development officers will be closely following the tournament to identify the best talents.

Chennai, Schools Premier League, ISL, Chennayin FC, Football, GrassrootsVarun Tripuraneni, Chennaiyin FC Chief Operating Officer and Founder of Schools Premier League commented, “The league was a massive hit in season one and schools were constantly behind us to organise the second edition of the league. We are now happy to return with Chennaiyin FC as the partners.

“We had terrific participation from schools in the first season where we had players, parents, school principals glued to the website for constant updates on matches, statistics, points table and we believe that this season, the league will be even bigger. The introduction of the schools league was something we felt was paramount for the development of football in local schools and this was the motive behind us starting such an initiative.

“The Radiance Sports – Schools Premier League, in partnership with Chennaiyin FC, is an opportunity to provide these hopeful youngsters a platform to showcase and refine their football talents. The response from the schools has been extremely positive from the first season and it was extremely tough shortliting the 16 school teams this season. I would like to thank Radiance Sports, for buying into our vision and supporting us in what will be a first of its kind league in the country.

“Having Chennaiyin FC as the partners will also give the participants extra motivation as our club will closely monitor the matches and select the best performers for our Centre of Excellence.”

Chennaiyin FC assistant coach and technical director of grassroots Syed Sabir Pasha said, “We at Chennaiyin FC are always looking to develop the best talent of the state and partnering with this league gives us an opportunity to see more talented young footballers in action. I encourage all the schools, kids, coaches, teachers and parents to give their very best in this tournament.”

Mr Varun Manian, Managing Director – Radiance Developers Pct Ltd commented, “We are very proud to associate with Schools Premier League as principal sponsor. We were associated with this initiative in the first season as well and we believe that this initiative will go a long way in developing the young talent in the country. We wish all the participating teams the best of luck.  “

 

SportsMechanics – Schools Premier League : Strategic Partnership

Schools Premier league along with SportsMechanics India a leader in Sports Analytics, Consulting, technology services today announced a strategic partnership with the schools premier league to leverage the latest technological advances, fan engagement and analytics to transform the experience of local football fans in the city, teams and players in the grassroots segment.

As part of this Deal, Sports Mechanics will become the Fan Engagement Partner and Technology Sponsor of the Schools Premier league for the next two years.

Varun Tripuraneni, Founder, Schools Premier League said, “ we welcome an industry leader in SportsMechanics to this league and take an important step towards exploring new opportunities in this area “.

‘’ Our partnership with Sports Mechanics will focus on fan engagement across various digital mediums.An important part of developing players is ensuring they are prepared in the best possible way. The players can watch highlights of the goals scored, look at the other important statistics like shots on target, minutes played and also analyse the opposition by knowing their performance in the previous games which will all be available on the website,” added Varun.

C.K.M.Dhananjai, One of the Founding Members and Vice President, SportsMechanics, said, “ We are looking forward to create a unique digital platform and think about how we can discover and execute differential and engaging experiences for fans for a unique tournament like this.

Playing sports in school is something we would have all cherished and enjoyed. SportsMechanics would like to re invent and bring these memories using our Platforms to give schools, players, coaches and fans with an immersive experience across the schools premier league’s digital channel.

This will also mean that the information available can be used by coaches, players and teams to analyse their own performances too.

Kerala – Just Play Project Manager Applications invited

Just Play, Football, Kerala, Grassroots, KFA, AIFF, OFC, Australia, Oceania Football Confederation, Grassroots, State, Job, ApplicationThe Australian Football Federation with the support of Australian Govt along with the Oceania Football Confederation have with the approval of AIFF decided to implement the award winning grassroots football development program “JUST PLAY” in Kerala on a pilot project basis.

The “JUST PLAY” program will be implemented by a Project Manager which will be a full time position based in Kochi. The Kerala Football Association on behalf of “JUST PLAY” invites applications from candidates who are interested to take up the posting.

The Project Manager will co-ordinate with the KFA as well as the Oceania Football Confederation to implement the program, he/she will also be responsible for expanding the program across the state, consult and work the state government, monitor and evaluate the program and report the same.

The candidate must be a Master’s Degree holder in Program Management/MBA/Economics/ Social Science and have 2 years professional experience in Program Management.

Selected candidate will be trained by Oceania Football Confederation and provided competitive remuneration package based on Skills and experience.

Applications must be mailed to KFA office by post or email on fakerala@rediffmail.com by latest Feb 25th evening.

Job Description & How to apply :

Just Play, Football, Kerala, Grassroots, KFA, AIFF, OFC, Australia, Oceania Football Confederation, Grassroots, State, Job, Application

 

From the Street to Santosh trophy – Inspiring Story of Bibin Ajayan, Jharkhand’s Santosh Trophy player

Bibin Ajayan, SAIL, Mohun Bagan, Academy, Football, Bokaro, janaseva sisu bhavan, Aluva, Kochi, Football, Kerala, KollamWhen Bibin’s mother Vasantha left their home, with her toddlers after persistent harassment from her husband, she would have never imagined what lay in store for her son, Bibin.

Her misery did not end after leaving home either – She was brutally attacked by some people on the street in Kochi in June 2006 and was shifted to a near-by hospital. She left her four kids including Bibin in Janaseva Sisubahavan in Aluva, a care-home for street children.

Bibin learned the basics of football from the Janaseva sports academy under the guidance of former Kerala Santosh trophy player Soly Xavier. He then went on to captain Ernakulam district team and then the Kerala state team. In 2014, Bibin was selected to the SAIL football academy in Bokaro. Since then he has been training with the academy in Jharkhand.

Now, his talent has been recognized and is being rewarded as he got selected to represent Jharkhand in the 2016 Santosh Trophy East Zone qualifiers taking place in Kolkata. Bibin is only 17 and is probably one of the youngest players ever to play in Santosh Trophy. He has a long career ahead and we wish him all the best!

Academy League Kicks off in Kerala

Ramco Academy League, Football, Kerala, Grassroots, Soccer,

 

In a first of it’s kind, Kerala Football Association is conducting a academy league in which football academies across the state will be competing. Fourteen teams competing in the league are divided in to four groups. The winner from each group will enter the semi finals of the the competition.

Group A:

Talent FA (Palakkad); Falcon (Wayanad); MSP (Malappuram); St. Mary’s Arakkulam (Idukki).

Group B:

Kickers FA (Kannur); St. George Academy; Kaippuzha (Kottayam); Chavara FA (Kollam); Red Star FA (Thrissur).

Group C:

New Soccer Academy (Kozhikode); Eravil Coaching Cenre (Kasargod); SCA Academy (Pathanamthitta).

Group B:

Janaseva Athani (Ernakulam); Santos FA; Ochira (Alappuzha); SBFA, Poovar (Thiruvananthapuram).

Fixtures:

Ramco Academy League, Football, Kerala, Grassroots, Soccer,

Kovalam FC on a fine run in the U-15 Youth League

Ebin Rose, Kovalam FC, India, Football, Indianfootball, Grassroots, Kerala, Football, Academy, Thirvananthapuram, SoccerKovalam FC, the sole participant from Kerala in the ongoing U-15 Youth League is on a fine run. With one more match to go, Kovalam is currently the toppers of Group F : Rest of India II.

After going down to Fateh Hyderabad 2-1 in a closely contested opening match, Kovalam FC came back strongly to defeat Boca Juniors Football academy from Bangalore 7-1 in their second match. From then on there has been no looking back for Kovalam FC. In the subsequent matches, Kovalam defeated Mahogany FC 4-1(Chennai) and overcame Ozone FC (Bengaluru) 2-1.

Ebin Rose, Kovalam FC, India, Football, Indianfootball, Grassroots, Kerala, Football, Academy,Thiruvananthapuram, SoccerKovalam FC will play their final match on 30th vs Bengaluru FC. Kovalam will have to at least manage a draw from their last match, if they have to maintain their chances to qualify for the final round of the U-15 league. Two teams from each group would qualify to the next stage where they would be divided into two groups. Subsequently Top two teams will get the nod to semi-finals and eventual final will decide the maiden winner of U-15 Youth League.

Kovalam FC’s story is a typical rags to riches one. After a modest beginning in 2009 with 20 footballers, Kovalam FC has one of the finest grassroots set up in Kerala with over 100 players training with the team now.

Do check out this interview we did with Ebin Rose (former Kerala & I-league player), who is the chief coach and dons the all-in-all role at Kovalam FC:

Interview : Kovalam FC’s Ebin Rose on Grassroots Development and More

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