Football fever grips the nation

With the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in India just three and half months away, football activities are buzzing in the country, and the state is not lagging behind, either. The football fever has caught up here and the football governing body in Maharashtra — Western India Football Association is making all efforts to make it count.

After the successful completion of the U-14 club level tournament on May 2, WIFA is now aiming to give women’s football a boost by organising the first ever WIFA Women’s League at Cooperage, Thursday onwards.

“Eight club teams from four districts will be participating in the event. Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, and Kolhapur will field two teams each. Nashik and Solapur are also set to compete from next year,” informed WIFA CEO Henry Menezes.

“The tournament will be played over 2-3 weekends at Cooperage, and the teams will stay there only. There also will be an analysts workshop conducted during the league,” the former Indian goalkeeper added.

The best team in the league will get a chance to play in the Indian Women’s League (IWL) qualifier. “Maharashtra has been asked to host the IWL qualifiers, and hopefully, Kolhapur may host the event. But it hasn’t yet been confirmed yet,” Menezes said.

The city has already witnessed women’s league tournaments conducted by the Mumbai District Football Association but for the first-time teams from outside the district will be playing here in the league.

WIFA organised the first ever State Youth Championship in April-May as part of the FIFA-AIFF State Development Project. A total 16 clubs from Mumbai, Kolhapur, Nagpur, Pune, Nasik and Solapur participated. Keshav Madhav Prathistan (KMP), Pune emerged champions beating favourites MSSA (Mumbai Schools Sports Association) Academy by a comfortable 2-0 margin in the final. Ishwar Racheal of KMP was declared ‘Player of the Tournament’.

“There is a transition phase after school, and we are trying to bridge that gap by introducing club level tournaments in different age categories. We have added club level competitions at U-14 level. It was a success as we received a phenomenal response, and our reach was far and wide via social media,” Menezes said.

Both Mumbai and Pune were represented with four clubs each, while two clubs each from Kolhapur, Nagpur, Nasik and Solapur participated in this tournament. Goans Sports Association and Nashik Football Coaching Centre had made it to the semis before losing to MSSA and KMP.

“We now plan to conduct a league of six zones every weekend of different age groups. Top teams will qualify for WIFA final round. It will be a month-long activity, and we have (ISL franchise) Mumbai City FC supporting it. Every year, centres will increase. It will also act as a talent hunting ground, and many players will be approached by top junior clubs like Ozone and Kenkre were interested in a few players for the U-14 tournament,” Menezes said.

“Our stress is on coach education, grassroots, women’s football and youth football. We recently showed a presentation to AIFF, and they were happy about it,” he added.

WIFA was awarded for the Best Grassroots program for 2014 by AIFF and FICCI at the Goal 2015 India Football Summit, the third International Convention on Football Business.

The state players Saurabh Meher of Colaba and Aniket Jadhav of Kolhapur are currently part of the Indian U-17 squad that is likely to feature in the World Cup in October. Gaston D’Silva of Don Bosco Matunga, a part of the team, has been sidelined apparently due to injury. “We had six players earlier, but now the squad has been pruned, and we have two active participants in the form of Saurabh and Aniket,” Menezes said.

Diploma in Football Management
WIFA completed India’s only Diploma in Football Management for the 2016-17 batch, in association with Skillanation & St. Pauls Institute of Communication Education. “The convocation of the same will be held on July 9, and AIFF Honorary Secretary Kushal Das will attend the function,” said WIFA CEO Henry Menezes.

This innovative and cutting edge curriculum from WIFA and Skillanation provides a complete range of knowledge and skill-sets to help learn and achieve a governing body Diploma certification and turn one into a recognised and certified Football Professional. Admissions for the 2017-18 batch are now open. To register, please log on to http://www.skillanation.com

“It will be a batch of 48, and the minimum requirement is a class XII pass certificate. The students also get ample exposure like the previous batch was actively involved in the BRICS U-17 tournament (in Goa) and during the India Friendlies in Mumbai against Puerto Rico and Nepal,” Menezes added.