Some good news for Indian Football after India’s lost to Qatar and JCT disbanded itself from all sort of competitive football. Come July 18 and India will have one more football academy with the motive of spotting and grooming young talents in the form of ‘Peninsula Pune Football Club Academy’. The Club from Maharastra is all set to launch its own football academy which ties in with the club’s grass roots / youth development program.
Pune FC has been one of the most successful clubs of the country having a fantastic set up with their professionalism. They finish the I-League twice on Top 5 and have been gaining ground amongst fan gauze by their high volume of merchandise sale. They are the only I-League club at present to play under flood lights, having regular gate receipts and extending corporate packages.
25 young footballers from across India, selected through open trail from football hotbeds like Manipur, Meghalya, Kolkata, Sikkim, Orissa, Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra will begin training on the opening day. Ranjan Chowdhury, a renowned TATA Football Academy figure ensured that the best talents were picked up from the trials. Five talents from the existing U–19 local program will also join in taking the total strength of the 1st batch to 30.
The training and grooming of the first batch will be a two year program with the best facilities and infrastructure provided to them. They will undergo their training at Pune FC ground, Mamurdi – Gahunje while residence of academy will be the Balewadi hostel. The total cost of the accommodation, food and nutrition, coaching, travel and stipend was not divulged though it is said to be substantial and will be borne by the Pune FC.
This program by Pune FC will bridge the gap of scouting for talent at the professional level and then grooming them. Having placed 80% of its Under 19 talents in 2010-11 with various I-League 1 and 2 clubs, Chirag Tanna, head of operations at Pune FC, is confident of a full placement for this batch also. The talents last year have been picked up by Sesa Goa Football Club, Chennai Super Division Football League and Pune FC.
The new academy will observe the performance of the first batch of the two year U–19 program but already have plans of having another two year program for U–17s and also continue to groom local talents in the U–15, U–17 categories and planning to introduce it in U-13 also.
In addition to the football training, Peninsula Pune Football Club Academy have tied up with Vidya Valley School for the overall and continued development of the young footballers, which will enable them to pursue their education though the distance learning programs.
Pune FC Youth Development division has also worked with the BK Birla School and the Vidya Valley School in Pune to create various football modules for their schools.
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