AND NOW, FROM MEN TO BOYS

FC Goa impressed the football world with its style of football, technical prowess and flair in both the seasons of the Indian Super League but that was just the beginning of a new chapter in their quest to deliver on their promise – the huge task of developing and aiding the growth of football at the grassroot level in Goa. 

The club co-owners established a comprehensive and professional management team to develop the club at all levels. They appointed Sukhvinder Singh as its CEO. 

Sukhvinder, a former Santosh Trophy player is probably one of the few football professionals who worked with the world’s top sports brand (Nike), the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and set-up India’s leading football company - Libero Sports India. 

The co-owners of the Goa franchise, Dattaraj Salgaocar and Shrinivas Dempo were enthusiastic about the programme.

 “It is important that the club is developed further at all levels including the elite team, the youth, grassroots, marketing and media and most importantly fan development. We believe Sukhvinder has the right understanding of the sport in India and would provide the club with a long-term strategy and a robust business plan. Goa has global ambitions and we wanted someone who has industry awareness at the global level. He is an ideal fit and we welcome him to the FC Goa family,” said the co-owners of FC Goa.

“While I followed and watched a lot of football in India it is for the first time ever that I am officially and emotionally connected with a football club,” said Sukhvinder Singh. 

“I want to build the off-pitch team that is critical to the success of the on-pitch team which results in development of the club as a whole. The brand of ‘Goa’ is global and FC Goa shall try to leverage the identity, football culture and passion of the region to create a strong community driven movement that shall capture the imagination of football enthusiasts not only in India but also at global level,” added Singh.

“FC Goa’s grassroot program is one major point of our agenda and we need to put in a lot of work. We have taken Katz Naidoo, who is the program’s Technical Director and he has told me that lots needs to be done. He has made a wish list and we will look to pursue this seriously. Ten years down the line, we need to play international football. We need to build infrastructure and hire coaches that would put us on track. Zico is not available all around the year but we will consult him, that’s an option for us,” said Shrinivas.

FC Goa hosted their first FC Goa Open Day of the season at the Rosary High School in Miramar in the first week of November. The event was attended by FC Goa squad members Jofre Mateu, Reinaldo Da Cruz, Pronay Halder and Victorino Fernandes. Also present were the technical director of the grassroots program, Katz Naidoo and Ashley Furtado, Chief Operations Officer, FC Goa. 

The Open Day had been planned by the club for the coming year. The club will look to identify potential players that can be drafted into the pre-existing pool of talent. 

The players and management interacted with the school children and coaches and shared details of their experience with the club. The kids played mini-tournaments trained by the club’s grassroots coaches.  

It was a part of the FC Goa Outreach Program which was a part of the club’s overall initiative to deliver on its promise of developing and aiding the growth of football in Goa at the grassroots level.

The Open Day allowed school children to participate in footballing activities organised by the club.  

FC Goa has a robust grassroots development programme. Over 1500 children between the age groups of 6 to 14 are currently being groomed by FC Goa. The U- 14 team, the Junior Gaurs are doing excellently well and are currently unbeaten. FC Goa assigned coach Gavin Araujo, an AFC A licensed coach as the head of the youth development and Naidoo as the program’s Technical Director. 

The adopted 16 schools include St Anthony’s High School (Duler), St Anthony’s HS (Guirim), Saraswat HS (Mapusa), St Britto’s HS (Mapusa), Assagao Union School, St Joseph’s HS (Calangute), Pilar Central School, St Lawrence HS (Agassaim) in the North. Our Lady of Poor HS (Tilamol), Our Lady of Fatima HS (Rivona), St Joseph HS (Chandor), Assumpta HS (Sarzora), Fr Agnel Ashram HS (Verna), St Rita HS (Maina), St Rock HS (Velim), St Xavier HS (Velim) are the schools who have been adopted by FC Goa from the South.

Ashley Furtado said, “The FC Goa Outreach Programme is designed so that the club can reach out to as many young children as possible and introduce them to the game of football in a friendly playing environment where they are encouraged to develop their inherent talent while also enjoying and loving the sport. FC Goa has a robust grassroots programme which is being managed under the watchful eye of Naidoo assisted by Gavin Araujo. Our Junior Gaurs are doing excellently well.”

 “The FC Goa grassroots programme aims to create a safe environment for Goa’s young footballers to enjoy the game and hone their skills. There are various stages that a young player needs to progress through to emerge as a strong skilled football player. We at FC Goa will take young players through that process and guide them along the way. We are also focusing on consistently training coaches on the methods and techniques involved in coaching,” added Naidoo. 

Talking about the need to develop grassroots, FC Goa player Jofre said, “Seeing the enthusiasm in Goa, it’s obvious that football is ready to take off in this part of the world. It’s important for India and Goa as a State, that they invest in the grassroots and develop the game so they can reach new heights. And the club (FC Goa) has a big part to play in this because they have already captured the people’s imagination here. So there is no better an opportunity to take the grassroots development forward and I strongly believe that FC Goa’s Grassroots Program will do just that. Seeds are ready to be sown, and I think the right people are in place to nurture them.” 

The FC Goa’s Grassroots development programme commenced last year saw reaching out to over 20,000 children and actively mentoring and coaching over 1500 students from 16 schools in the sport of football.

FC Goa hosted their second FC Goa Open Day of the season at the Dr. Remigio Pinto football ground at Taleigao, in the first week of December. The event was attended by senior squad members Raju Gaikwad, Laxmikant Kattimani, Mandar Rao Dessai, CS Sabeeth and Elinton Andrade. Naidoo along with Gavin Araujo, Ashley Furtado and Sukhvinder Singh were also present for the event.

Four institutions from the vicinity, namely Auxillium High School, Santa Cruz High School, Santo Miguel High School and Bethesda Life Centre (home for underprivileged children in Santa Cruz) had participated in the Open Day. 

“We have our superstars present here with us who have made Goa proud. I hope everyone will enjoy this opportunity and celebrate this day because football is all about reaching out and all about freedom and celebration,” said Naidoo.

“I feel initiatives like this can help us get more players from the grassroots and have many more quality players represent the country,” Ashley Furtado reverberated.

“It’s wonderful thing to see support from parents towards the sport. I think the programme should also involve girls into their outreach programme as girls are also a part of the ecosystem of the sport and something that we need to implement in the future,” said Sukhvinder. 

FC Goa boasts of a robust grassroots development program that caters to over 1500 children between age groups of 6 to 14. The FC Goa U-14 team or the Juniors Gaurs are a perfect example of the advances. The U-14 team coached by Gavin Araujo recently confirmed their spot in the play-offs of the 2015/16 Goa Football Association (GFA) Under-14 League with an unbeaten record.