School football teams reaching final level of nationwide tourney will be trained by the Scottish club; four best players will also get to try out for it

Celtic FC to train budding footballers

School football teams reaching final level of nationwide tourney will be trained by the Scottish club; four best players will also get to try out for it

Football may finally be getting the boost it needs in the country with the launch of a new league which will allow some talented youngsters to undergo a trial for the Scottish Celtic Football Club (FC). The club will also train the teams which make it to the final level of the league.

Game on: Representatives from Celtic will be present for the final series
to train the winning teams from the various cities. File pic

The Bangalore District Football Association is also in talks with clubs like Manchester United from England and Boca Juniors from Argentina to see if they can play some exhibition games in the city.

The Youth Football Challenge, which kicked off yesterday, will see 34 schools from the city competing to get a chance to play at the national level against winners from Mumbai, Kolkata, Goa, Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram.u00a0u00a0

Representatives from Celtic will be present for the final series to train the winning teams from the various cities. The most talented 20 will be selected for specialist coaching and four boys will get the chance to travel to Glasgow for a trial for the club.

Exciting times
T Shanmugam, one of the heroes of the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and the 1951 Asian Cup-winning Indian side, who was present at the tournament's launch, said, "Indians simply could not make the change when boots were made mandatory in international football tournaments. With the correct structure in place, maybe we can be competitive at the international level again."

P N Shankaran, a representative from Procam International, the promoter of the league, is excited about the potential that the tournament holds. "I've waited 70 years to see something like this," he said. "Mahindra, the sponsors, have a passion and ambition. This is a blessing for Indian Football as it will help us tap the grassroots."

"At the moment, nobody comes out of the system, because there is no system. The future of football with this new tournament is very, very safe," he added.

M P Swamy, chairman, Bangalore District Football Association, said, "It is great that we can now help and nurture youngsters. Celtic's help will make this is a very good starting point. The BDFA is also hopeful of securing some exhibition matches with the likes of Manchester United in the near future," he said.

Sriram Ramachandran from Mahindra and Mahindra said the company was proud to support the strong new format while E Krishna Narayana, secretary, Karnataka State Football Association (KSFA), said he hoped the tournament will encourage local talent.

Fixtures
The tourney will begin on November 12 with the Bangalore final taking place on November 30. The winning teams from all the cities will play against one another in April next year.

Club acquisition

Reports emerged this month of Venkateshwara Hatcheries, a Pune-based poultry major, buying out English Premier League club Blackburn Rovers for ufffd46 million. Once the formalities are complete, the company will be the first Indian owner of an EPL club.

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