Talented children be spotted to form competitive team

Kochi, Jan 18 (UNI) Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Grass Roots and Youth Development Department Officer Annadurai Ranganathan today said talented children should be spotted and trained to produce a competitive football team for India in the future.

Speaking to reporters here, after attending a one-day workshop as part of finding children at the school-level under the Vision (Kerala) project, Dr Ranganathan said ''it is important to train children aged between 11 and 13, as this age group is known as the golden age for instilling football skills in them.'' He said in Kerala under the programme 56 schools from seven districts were chosen and trained coaches from AFC and the State would view matches at these schools to select children for training.

As part of the programme, 56 coaches were also trained by AFC officials to impart correct training to the selected children.

The programme, part of the Vision India project, was being executed by the AFC in co-operation with Kerala Football Association and Kerala Sports Council.

Besides Kerala, the project was underway in Manipur, Delhi and Tamil Nadu.

Kerala Sports Council President T P Dasan said the Government was investing around Rs 50 lakh for this project, which would be spread across seven district - Thriuvananthapuram, Pattanamthitta, Ernakulam, Malappuram, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kannur.

UNI MA AB KP2009