Team Herald
PANJIM: Sporting Clube de Goa welcomed the monsoons with a fun filled grassroots festival with the kids, who are the part of Sporting Academy and their associate schools, coming out in large numbers to mark the AFC Grassroots Day, at Don Bosco ground, Panjim, recently.
To give the kids a taste of what happens in professional football they were divided into 14 teams. Sporting Clube’s senior players played the role of team-owner and mentor.
The teams competed with each other in various light exercises and fun games across seven stations which were meticulously planned to ensure smooth cross-over.
The stations were headed by various academy and youth team coaches, who conducted small sided games and activities for the teams. The kids enjoyed the entire session while learning new tricks from the best in the business. Enthusiastic involvement of senior players propelled the spirits of these young kids as they got some basic training a lot of guidance from some of their idols.
Declaring the festival open, Fr Avan Carvalho of Don Bosco High School stressed on the importance of integrating sports with regular studies and the joint efforts Sporting Clube de Goa along with Don Bosco High School have been doing over the past years to achieve the same.
Thrilled with the response he jokingly mentioned, “It’s just the third day of your school and you guys are already set to kick the ball with Sporting Clube.”
This grassroots festival will set the mood for Sporting Academy and youth team training which would kick start from the month of August.
With the response growing steadily Sporting Clube’s youth coaches are gearing up for an exciting season ahead.
Speaking to the media, Clube’s General Secretary Edward Noronha mentioned, “We are making an effort to develop the game of football with a proper foundation. Here at Sporting we are gradually building a triangular bond around the kids between the club, the school and the parents. This is very essential for the overall development of any athlete.”
He further added, “To start with, I believe we been able to achieve quite a lot here, the response of around 160 kids during rains supported by the schools and most of the parents who waited and watched the entire session speaks for itself.”
The club CEO Victor Fernandes informed, “Grassroots are the fundamental part of the overall structure of any football club. It’s essential to unearth talent at a very young age so that they can receive proper training and maintain a healthy life to transform into a professional player. Here at Sporting we constantly look for local talent and provide them with proper facilities and training. We believe in providing a platform for the local boys to compete at the national stage. Over the coming years, we plan to have many more activities and spread the love for football to every part of the State.”
Sporting Clube Head Coach Mateus Costa who was also actively involved in the festival said, “We consider grassroots as a very important component of our club. We have a set of fantastic experienced coaches who work tirelessly to shape up the academy and youth teams. Their achievements year after year shows the brighter picture. We would love to promote more and more boys from our youth ranks into the senior teams.”
The festival was a success and the kids enjoyed every single moment of the same. Participating students were also awarded a certificate at the hands of various Sporting players.
