Guwahati: Assam Football Association hosted a Football Coach Conclave on May 25 in Guwahati. The association organized this event to commemorate World Football Day 2024. A large number of football coaches from across the region attended this event. Key officials of the association, state bureaucracy and players attended this event. Several topics pertaining to the sport and its future in the state were discussed by the gathering.
The secretary of the Assam Football Association, Dr Sangrang Brahma welcomed everyone to the gathering. He also spoke about the World Football Day event organized across the world. And elaborated on the idea behind the meeting, which was to explore the road ahead for Assam’s Football.
Kausar J Hilaly, Secretary for Sports and Youth Welfare to the Government of Assam attended this meeting. During his speech, he mentioned that Northeast India has an excellent gene pool suited for the sport. He added that although genetics is important, practice and infrastructure development are more important. He mentioned that out of more than 25000 participants, a total of just 612 sportspersons were able to perform well at the recently conducted Khel Maharan. And that the government is looking at organizing special residential training camps for them after Durga Puja. The secretary also announced that there will be no Khel Maharan this year. And emphasized the training of sportspersons since early childhood.
Nausad Moosa, the former Indian footballer and assistant manager and head coach of the reserve team as well as the head of youth development of ISL club NEUFC also attended the event. He said that while traveling NER, he found the lack of proper football coaching in Assam. While in Manipur, the conditions have caused severe problems for the players and coaches. He also added that Mizoram had the best talent pool as steps are taken right from early childhood by organizing baby leagues, school-level tournaments, etc. He also mentioned that the younger generation is very smart and that coaching should be more about bringing out the talents in the players, rather than telling them what to do.
Professional footballer Vinit Rai, who is currently with Mumbai City FC stressed the importance of ‘catching them young’. He also called for the setting up of residential academies in each district of the state. He also suggested hosting inter-academy matches once or twice a year. This would not only help the players gain real-life competitive experience but also help in talent spotting. Vinit went on to add that this way every year 10-15 players from the state will be able to make it to the ISL while 2-3 will go into the national team.
Another professional footballer Halicharan Narzary who now plays for Bengaluru FC attended the event and spoke about the importance of proper grounds. He said that the quality of the ground is very important for the improvement of a player’s gameplay. If the player has to concentrate on the ground, he hardly has time to improve his play. He added that Assam has a very limited number of football academies and proper grounds. And asked for immediate action in this direction.
Senior sports journalist Subodh Malla Barua also attended the event and stressed the importance of Assam Football Association’s actions towards the development of the sport in the state.
