Piet Hubers, technical director of grassroots development was delighted with the level of talent on display during Day 5 of the 2017 Reliance Foundation Young Champs Club Scouting Festival. The festival was welcomed with great support and enthusiasm at the Dr. Ambedkar Stadium in the football crazy state of Kerala on Monday.Hubers was left very impressed by the youngsters in Kerala, even likening their style of play to that of Hero ISL 2014 and 2016 runners-up Kerala Blasters FC. “It was a wonderful experience, they have found a lot of very talented players in our opinion. Of course, the format [for the festival] was the same but we saw some very, very talented players, real team players. They play let’s say the Kerala Blasters style, good position play with also some very good individual skills,” he said.The festival began at 8 am as youngsters poured through the gates and took to the field, looking to create a positive impression with their footballing ability on the on-looking coaches. The participants underwent several drills and were evaluated by eight coaches from Kerala Blasters FC’s grassroots development programme in conjunction with Hubers and Mark Vaessen, head coach of the RFYC.The RFYC aspirants had their technical skills assessed while taking part in passing and receiving drills designed to test their ball control. The emphasis of the festival then shifted to their positional sense with them being separated into groups of 7-v-3 or 6-v-4 before being asked to compete against one another. The Kerala Blasters FC Scouting Festival ended with all the young hopefuls featuring in a 7-a-side match. Day 6 of the Club Scouting Festival will stay in the south with action set to commence at the home of Hero ISL 2015 winners Chennaiyin FC.
