Lack of a proper grassroots development programme was one of the reasons for the decadence of football in the country and Kerala was no exception to this. Professional clubs cared two hoots for football development and the clubs, as a rule, did not nurture talent even as they poached players from lesser known clubs to build their glamour teams. However, the AIFF recently toughened the club licensing criteria making it mandatory for ISL and I league clubs to have a fullfledged grassroots football development programme for nurturing talent..
The Sachin Tendulkar-owned Kerala Blasters, the Kochi franchisee of ISL, started its own school christened Kerala Blasters Football School (KBFS) in select centres in the State to spot and train talented footballers. The KBFS was the brainchild of Tendulkar himself. The first centre of the KBFS came up at Ambedkar Stadium in 2015. Kerala Blasters initially had an agreement with a private firm to promote grassroots development programmes in the State. But the tie-up ended after two years and the club has now inked a deal with the Kerala Football Association (KFA) to promote football among the younger generation.
The KBFS, which operates out of Ambedkar Stadium in Kochi, has proved to be a big hit. The centre has around 100 trainees in different age groups. Coaching is given everyday by coaches provided by the KFA. Kerala Blasters also has another centre at Choice School in Kochi. “The KBFS Centre at Ambedkar Stadium is our biggest and it is the only centre where coaching is conducted on all days. The other centres are small and have an intake of only 20 trainees and coaching is given during weekends,” said Sanjith Kurian, who is in charge of the Kerala Blasters school programme.
25 KBFS in State
“Twenty-five Kerala Blasters Football Schools are already operational across Kerala. We have independent football centres as well as tie-ups with certain schools in rural locations,” said KBFC CEO Varun Tripuraneni. “We currently have around 1,500 students enrolled in our programme across various locations. These students are provided professional football training and the talented and skilled youngsters will be nurtured to play for the club reserve team as well as the senior team in future matches,” said Thangboi Singto, Technical Director, Kerala Blasters.
Kerala Blasters chief coach David James inaugurated the latest Blasters school, the first of its kind, in Thiruvananthapuram, earlier this month. The centre will function from Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium and has 20 children between 10 and 16 years of age as trainees. The children will be given coaching during weekends. “We are planning to start another centre at Attingal to tap talent from outside the city. The next school will come up in Kollam. We also have plans to start a coaching centre in Kozhikode. By the end of the year, we will probably have schools in all districts, said Sanjith Kurian.
