Academies prepare, others benefit

Deepankar Sharda in Chandigarh

Deepankar Sharda  in Chandigarh

THERE may be different opinions about the state and status of football in this region, but Chandigarh and Punjab, despite facing odds, are still famous among young footballers in terms of honing their skills. Chandigarh Football Academy (CFA) and Mahilpur Football Academy (MFA) have jointly produced over 100 international players in the junior circuit.  

However, a dying club culture and no major opportunities for senior players have eclipsed the contribution of these two academies to the Indian football. 

After honing their skills, junior players from these academies move to other states for better opportunities. The recent addition to the Indian defence line, Nishu Kumar, and U-17 World Cup scorer for India, Jeakson Singh Thounaojam, are few of the players who have trained in these academies and then left before their contract finished. 

While the UT Administration and Punjab Government invest time and money on their education and training, they have no way of retaining them after the school is over. The UT Administration inducts a trainee in CFA for seven years. During this period, young players get schooling and coaching. They also play at school level. But once they are out of CFA, they are on their own. The administration spends around Rs 70 lakh on each player in seven years. During this period the players only participate in a handful of championships. 

After finishing school when most players peak and are ready to play for some club, state or even country, they are asked to make their own arrangements. 

Despite having three government colleges, the administration has failed to come up with a policy to utilise their skills for its own benefit. On other hand, the MFA do not sign any contract with its players, but it does have an advantage. It has an affiliated college, and players from its affiliated SGGS School, graduate to this college with a hope of getting a suitable platform for their playing skills. 

Coach speak

"We have around 46 players from CFA playing in the international circuit. Every year players from adjoining states come to train at CFA. However, when these kids succeed, other clubs or states claim the credit for their success," says Harjinder Singh, a former international player who is a coach with the academy.

Echoing views of other specialists, he says, "Football in Punjab is in such deplorable state due to government apathy and absence of football clubs. The clubs demand good results from their players. After a season or so; they sell them to other clubs at a profit. In the absence of any clubs, Punjab remains a loser. There are no big prize money championships either." 

Harinder Singh, a coach at the SGGS College (Mahilpur), feels a revival is impossible without the state government's help. 

Under Punjab Government's sports wing, a junior player gets Rs 200 daily as diet money, while a senior player gets Rs 100 per day. There are only 10 seats each at both junior and senior level in the sports wing but there are 58 players. "How can you nurture a player on such a miniscule amount?" questions Harinder. To add to their woes, they did not receive any grant from the state government last year. Even the Punjab Institute of Sports' only focus is to promote hockey, and not football or other sports in rural areas.

In this dismal scenario, can football find its lost glory in Punjab? Let's us pray to God ... and the government.