Have you ever wondered why the Indian youth squads shine and then fizzle out in due course of time?
You always see the Indian squads dowell as youngsters. Proof in point, the U-13 squad finishing at the top of thetable in the AFC U-13 Football Festival often. The U-14 squad has always been toutedas drawing up youngsters to match the very best in the world. The U-16 squadhas been performing excellently at the offshore US centre against Internationalteams and trains all year round. That brings us to the question; if theperformances match up to the best of the best as youngsters, where does it allgo wrong after they join senior squads?
Grassroots encompasses players fromthe tender age of 6 all the way up to 16. India being one of the largest countriesin the world on basis has of its population has a huge talent pool to choosefrom in that demographic. What football in this country suffers from is thelack of basic requirements of financial backing and infrastructure. Anotherimportant facet in grassroots football is scouting and nurturing. The resourcesand expertise available in the country are not sufficient enough to sustain arobust scouting mechanism that could bring the boys to the training ground.Also, the golden rule of grassroots development; training for 10,000 hours,holds null in India. Without a proper scouting mechanism there is no scope ofthe boys being brought to work on the field and blanks out the future of thesport.
Countries like Iraq and Australiahave turned around their National squads by focusing mainly on the youth squadswhich results in an all-round development of the player thereby negating theneed to start from basics with the older teams. The All India FootballFederation (AIFF) along with FIFA is moving towards a more organized andprofessional way of grassroots development that involves residential academies,certified coaching staff, all round development, advanced training methods andequipment, infrastructure, overall development etc. The AIFF has put into placea scouting program that brings boys to the academies. Clubs and corporates aresetting up academies and special purpose vehicles to bring boys to a coaching centerand let them grow from there. They are focusing on Technical – Physical –Psychological – Social development of the boys; aspects that would ensure abright future of football in the country
Very soon we hope to see Indiastanding toe-to-toe on the global football scene due to its robust grassrootsdevelopment programs.
To stress on the importance ofgrassroots football development, UEFA technical director Andy Roxburgh says: "Football is not a sport for the elite.It is available for everyone, irrespective of size, shape, colour or faith. Itis a real sporting democracy which offers educational values, health benefits,social opportunities and sporting worth. The game is a wonderful vehicle forpersonal and sporting development. At the base of the football pyramid, grassrootsfootball benefits all levels of the game."
