Outlining GFDC’s aim of taking football forward at the grassroots, Dr Monteiro stressed that Naidoo’s objective will be imparting practical shape to GFDC’s master plan for football which has been designed with inputs from the council members and eminent sports personalities that had participated in GIFT.
“With Naidoo taking over as technical director, football training at all the centres will be taken to the next level with scientific methods used in the modern game,” stated Dr Monteiro.
“Naidoo is here to implement GFDC’s vision for football. With vast experience he was highly recommended by people associated with African football and we did not hesitate to appoint him after analysing his vision,” stated member secretary, Gomes.
“Football needs to supplement its own eco-system. Community development forms a part of taking football development to every nook and corner available. Katz was recommended by Dr Robinson Peterson. During his visit, Naidoo impressed us with his footprints,” added Gomes.
Speaking at the press conference at the GFDC headquarters, here, Naidoo demonstrated how football can be improved and enjoyed by when looked scientifically can be enjoyed.
“It is a game that holds no barriers. It is the sport that fascinates all. I am here to learn from everyone. I have come here to leave behind a legacy. Football knows no barriers,” says the coach from South Africa but with Indian origins.
“There is no question of putting regimes. Training should be fun. When you enjoy, you learn best. There is no question of putting fear or running down any one. The idea is to get the best out of everyone. God has bestowed talent on everyone. We are instruments to tap those talents,” stated Katz.
“Having played and having been brought up in apartheid plagued South Africa, life was a steep climb. I survived because football is my love and football is all I know. I took this opportunity to come to Goa as a signal from above,” said the technical director.
Katz has a CV that will make most eyes twinkle with envy. Right from teaching football in South Africa, he has had stints in other countries in Asia and Europe. But it is not qualifications that matter much to him. “It is how you learn to play,” says Katz in his simple words.
