The biggest challenge in India right now is the culture of football: Bhaichung Bhutia
Former India football team captain Bhaichung Bhutia has admitted that the culture of football in India has to grow quite a lot even though there have been encouraging signs. He also felt that kids need to be given more opportunities to play in competitive matches so that they gain exposure.
Serving the nation for 16 years and being the torch-bearer of Indian football, Bhutia started his Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools (BBFS) eight years back, which has been India’s largest football training program. These schools have been running since 2010, providing young kids opportunities to showcase their football talent.
However, the football legend hasn't been satisfied the way Indian football has been progressing. In an interview with TOI, he spoke about creating and providing a feeder system for Indian football. He felt that the football culture was yet to develop despite some encouraging signs.
“The biggest challenge in India right now is the culture of football. It has to grow quite a lot. It is there in some pockets in different parts of the country but when you compare it to South America or Europe, I think the culture of football is so big. Anywhere you go, they talk about football. Any ground you see, the kids are playing football. That culture is yet to develop in India, but it’s definitely growing,” said Bhaichung Bhutia.
Pointing out the changes that needed to be brought into the structure, Bhutia stated that it was important to play more and more competitive games which would help them gain exposure and experience.
“We need to make a lot of changes. A lot of kids in the majority of the country are not getting the opportunity to play competitive matches, no matter how talented they are. Slowly, through the federation and through our programs and organisations like the BBFS and others, we are trying to encourage kids to train and get more matches. There have to be changes made according to the country and geographical location and culture,” the 41-year-old said.
Bhutia has also had a fair bit of experience as coach and manager. Most of his coaching stints have been with United Sikkim and in January earlier this year, he was appointed as the manager of Sikkim. When asked about the right age for youngsters to start playing football, Bhutia felt the sooner, the better.
“I think as soon as possible. You can start with four and five-year-olds. Every age group has different ways of training. At the early ages of 4, 5 and 6 it’s all about making the kids enjoy the game, then you have small-sided game for kids who are 8, 9 and 10. The most important thing is to make sure that the kids enjoy the sport. You can’t train them technically so much at the ages of 5, 6, 7 or 8 but you can have training methods where they really enjoy and want to come and play the sport. The more you enjoy, the more you can pick up and learn,” the former Indian football team captain added.
Earlier this month, the first football residential academy was opened on the campus of the Vedas International School in Gurgaon. With a batch of 43 students initially, the academy would be ensuring that youngsters receive quality education and academics training, so that they could take up higher studies after graduating from the academy.
Speaking about this endeavour, the 41-year-old said that it is important to balance between studies and sports.
“It’s been a long-term plan to have a residential academy. We’ve got the Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools already and we’re one of the largest grassroots football programs in India with more than 20 centres and 100-plus coaches, but to have a residential academy was very important because we see huge potential in the players and huge demand for players to come and focus completely on the sport. At the same time, it is important that we make academics important and ensure that studies are not left out.
“We started the academy as a tie-up with Vedas International and they have a wonderful facility with two football grounds, and the demand for the kids was really encouraging to see. They want to become complete footballers but their parents don’t want them to miss out on studies, so that also manages itself. We’re very happy that we’ve got 43 students in our first batch,” Bhutia revealed.
