Indian Super League organises grassroots workshop
The Indian Super League (ISL) conducted its first grassroots workshop for the year 2015/16 for all its clubs on June 25/26, 2015 in Navi Mumbai. Piet Hubers, the ISL Grassroots Technical Director, led the workshop during which discussions were centred upon the agenda for the current year and the role of each club during the same period.
Delegates from all eight ISL clubs were in attendance including Jose Hevia and Steve Charles from FC Pune City, Shakti Chauhan from Delhi Dynamos FC, Rahul Sharma from NorthEast United FC, Vivek Nagul from Chennaiyin FC, Monojit Das from Atlético de Kolkata, Ashley Furtado from FC Goa, Nishant Mehra, Crystal John and Karthik Menda from Mumbai City FC, Terry Phelan from Kerala Blasters FC.
Mark Vaessen and Jose Ramirez Barreto from the Reliance Foundation Young Champs (RFYC) Scholarship Programme were also present for the event.
The key points that were thrown into light during this workshop revolved around a common vision, objective and methodology for the ISL and its partner clubs over the course of the next three years. Other pertinent issues discussed during the workshop were the setup of road maps and agreeing on annual timelines. Expanding grassroots activities with the help of additional festivals, activities and communities also featured on the agenda.
The delegates observed a training session that featured the RFYC scholars at the Father Agnel ground in Vashi, Navi Mumbai to provide them with a better perspective of the different phases of a training session and the link it provides to the sessions organised earlier as well as those of the future. All the delegates were also in attendance for a physical training session of the RFYC scholars to further deepen their knowledge.
All in all, it was an engaging couple of days for all participants. With the ISL’s second season slated to kick off on October 3, the clubs will be eager to excel on the grassroots front as well.