The Hero Indian Super League’s (ISL) first grassroots development programme for its clubs concluded here today with over 100 children participating in a grassroots festival at the Bidhannagar Municipal Sports Complex. The workshop was a three-day affair, led by Scott O’Donell, technical director, AIFF Academies, and Piet Hubers, member, UEFA Grassroots Panel.Former India captain I M Vijayan, Subrata Dutta, president, Indian Football Association & VP, AIFF, as well as ISL's Team Mumbai players Subrata Pal and Syed Rahim Nabi were also present on the final day to inspire and motivate the children as well as give them useful tips on how to play the game.The three-day grassroots workshop was organised with the aim of educating and training the ISL clubs' appointed grassroots development officers in both the theoretical and practical aspects of different age group training.In all, 26 such grassroots development officers participated in the three-day workshop with full passion and commitment. All sessions – theoretical and practical - were conducted by Hubers and O’Donell, and the teams’ development officers used whatever they learned during the workshop to organize a “grassroots festival” on the final day for over 100 children. Theoretical sessions over the three days were conducted on subjects such as grassroots philosophy, small-sided games and their importance, grassroots coaching, conduct, characteristics of children, coordination, agility & motor skills, scouting, basic football skills, how to organize a festival etc.The practical sessions for kids were conducted keeping three things in mind: that the children need to “play, learn, and enjoy”. Kids of different ages took part in 4 v 4, 5 v 5, 7 v 7, and 9 v 9 games, and were also made to undergo some technique-based drills.One of the major objectives of the ISL is to spread grassroots football in India. As part of this endeavour, all the ISL clubs are required to undertake grassroots programmes in their respective home city through in-school and 'maidan' initiatives.In the first year, each club would target reaching out to 1.25 lakh children in their home city through such initiatives, reaching a total of one million children. In the coming years, the ISL clubs will start age-specific training programmes to nurture young footballing talents.
