DSK Shivajians is the best youth set-up in the country: New CEO

DSK-Shivajians have laid the marker in terms of youth football after partnering with Liverpool Football club to develop and overhaul their youth academy. Speaking exclusively to Goal, Shah prided at the association and said, “To me, it’s the best youth set-up in the country. It has all the right elements; it has a strong set of coaches, led by two coaches who are basically here on full time and have come from Liverpool. Everything that is happening is also being done the Liverpool way. It’s not just another marketing exercise; it’s (Liverpool) actually integrated into the day-to-day program.

“More importantly, the kind of environment that these players are within has really been done in such a way that it really has been outstanding in the players and they are gaining such professional experience; single room accommodation, very conscious scientific diet that they are having three (times) in a day, as well as, the competition that they are getting.”

The importance of investment in football has become key to the development of the game from the youth level and Shah took note of it by saying, "I always appreciated the approach to football investment. I appreciate the fact that they are looking at youth development; developing quality coaches; they are looking at infrastructure, including quantity and quality infrastructure. It was something that they are looking to create a Premier League club overnight. They have passion. I’m communicating the way I believe them (to be), but more importantly how they’ve reacted actively to their vision over the last couple of years.”

Talking about his experiences in the MLS, the newly appointed CEO had some interesting insights. " I worked for a period of seven years, from 2002-09. During my time, I was able to get exposure to all the MLS clubs. I was able to witness the growth of a league right from it's fledging, small years in 2002 to a very, very strong one, with star players representing multiple clubs when I left,” added Shah.

Shah also noted how the association with major European clubs is helping Indian football on the whole and how he can bring all his MLS experience to India to further build a brand. "Since then, my work with Libero has allowed me to get exposure with a large number of projects all around the country - working with different NGO programmes to working with clubs such as Barcelona and Liverpool to build their brands in the country. So, I have a good taste of everything and now I want to bring all of my experience together and put that into the DSK Shivajians and the entire football project and take it to the next level," he concluded