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SAI football talent hunt from Oct 8
SAI football talent hunt from Oct 8. India may no more be a force to reckon with in world football but that is not deterring the Sports Authority of India (SAI), which has envisioned a ‘workable’ blueprint that is aimed at knitting a quality team when the country hosts the Under-17 World Cup in two years time.
Hyderabad: India may no more be a force to reckon with in world football but that is not deterring the Sports Authority of India (SAI), which has envisioned a ‘workable’ blueprint that is aimed at knitting a quality team when the country hosts the Under-17 World Cup in two years time. Since conceiving the New Delhi-headquartered School Sports Promotion Foundation, the policymakers are set to unfold the ambitiously chartered Talent Search and Nurture programme, which takes off across select cities this fortnight.
To be spearheaded by Olympian S S Hakeem in his capacity as the Chief Project Director, the coordinator for the State will be A Aleem Khan, DSDO of District Sports Authority Hyderabad while former footballer and coach S Saadi will handle the Hyderabad district affairs, both of whom were present on the occasion.
Hakeem informed at a press conference here on Wednesday that although belated, the Foundation can still go about the task of restoring past glory as it is striving to tap talent at every possible pocket in the country. ‘It is a mammoth attempt considering that the talent hunt will cover a whopping 676 districts,’ he pointed out.
The Hyderabad leg’s kick-off will be at Gymkhana Ground where anyone who is under 15 years of age can report and parade their skills during the October 8 and 9 selection trials. He said that around 25 boys will be handpicked for a month-long camp at Gachibowli tentatively in the second week of November. Subsequently, all trainees will play alongside and against each other at the national level.
Hakeem, who has served as Regional Director of SAI earlier in his career, said that they were working in tandem with the All India Football Federation (AIFF) with whom they have signed a collaborative MoU. He said that in order to make the exercise as much transparent as possible, SAI would nominate qualified coaches and referees for the camps that will be held in New Delhi, Kolkata or either of Bangalore or Hyderabad.
He said that he would use his good offices to ensure that Hyderabad is one of three regional bases at least as a reverential salutation to the luminaries the city has produced in the golden era. Hakeem said that like elsewhere the Foundation is trying to involve all former internationals.
Among those likely to be associated with the programme in Telangana State include former India captain Victor Amalraj and internationals like S S Waseem, S A Jabbar, M Laiquddin Khan, M Shameem, Vijay Kumar, A A Khan, Ram Mohan while SAI coaches Ramesh Babu, M Prasad and S A Rahim will assist in the selection process. In his brief interaction Arjuna awardee Mohd Habeeb said that although the declining standards were deplorable, it was time to move ahead. The latest move would be the perfect starting point, he contended.
