As the Youth Champions league was being inaugurated at theFatorda stadium earlier this week, a quiet presence at the sidelines was thatof Satish Khare, the U-16 national football coach. For him, an event of thisscale was a great platform for children to get motivated and recognised. Satishexpressed the hope that the organisers would sustain this exercise over aperiod of time.
“It is important to know that the tournament will beconducted next year so that we can evaluate the progress of promising players.Too many times in the past we have had organisers conduct an event and then notfollow it up the following year,” he said. According to him, India hadfantastic talent but the absence of facilities at the junior level was theproblem. Footballers are not even given water at training facilities whileabroad it was not uncommon to find fruits and other nutritious food beingprovided. Another problem is thattraining in India commences when the child is 11 or 12 whereas in Europe it isnot surprising for clubs to track and train talent as young as eight and nineyears.
Despite all these problems Satish felt the talent in thecountry at the junior level was world class. To cite an example he said thenational U-16 team lost narrowly to Brazil (3-2) in the quarter-finals of theGothia Cup in Sweden, which is the largest youth championship in the world. Thetalent he said, is sadly lost by the time they reach 20 or 21. Asked how thiswas so, he said, “the absence of facilities makes life quite difficult for theplayers. Those who make it to the senior team are usually those who had made itdespite the system.”
Satish will be present during the course of the tournamentand hopes to spot new talent which will be able to transform the fortunes ofthe sport in the country.
