In a welcome initiative, Dream Sports Foundation has collaborated with UK’s famed, Premier League (PL) to bring six, experienced PL coach developers to Goa to impart knowledge to football coaches taking part in the Dream Sports Championship-AIFF Junior League currently underway in South Goa.
The Premier League coach developers’ team is led by Carl Plunkett, Lead coach developer of the PL, Chris Foreman from Aston Villa FC, Colin Littlejohns from Everton FC, John Scott from AFC Bournemouth, Max Chapman from West Ham United FC and Sarah Lowden from Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMO).
In the sessions being held throughout this week in a south Goa hotel, the experienced, PL coaches have been guiding Indian coaches in five distinct topics which include, managing matchday effectively, designing effective training sessions, session design frameworks, constraint-based coaching, and reflective practice.
Significantly, the dissemination of knowledge has not been restricted to only the workshops. The Indian coaches are also being offered one-on-one, coaching support by the PL coach developers, who have been visiting the respective clubs’ training sessions.
The PL coaches have also been watching matches, both in the morning and evening at the Raya panchayat ground and Don Bosco ground, Margao getting a first-hand feel of the quality of Indian under-16 boys’ football.
Commenting on the initiative, Neel Shah, CEO, Dream Sports Foundation said, “This partnership is focused on coaching education, international exposure, and knowledge exchange. It has been encouraging to see how thoughtfully the Premier League coaches have structured and facilitated their sessions, and the openness of Indian coaches, not just to learn, but to share and collaborate.”
The initiative has been welcomed by the Indian coaches. Harsh Roy, assistant coach, Reliance Foundation Young Champs said, “When you have workshops with Premier League coaches, it is extremely stimulating because you start to think more, you start to go into details and this helps you become a better coach.”
Similar views were echoed by Surinder Singh, technical director, Minerva Academy, who said, “We are sharing our views and we are getting their ideas. They are doing things in a more professional way, which will help us progress Indian football.”
