Indian Football: Roadmap Ahead - How can AIFF make ISL, I-League and National Team better?

#5 Youth Football

The current youth setup of the AIFF is comprehensive and has been producing results

The current national youth league is pretty comprehensive and seems like a good structure. The only suggestion would be to increase the duration of the league, in order to keep young players busy in training or with games year-round. With most of the top division clubs and zonal league level clubs having a youth system set-up, that aspect has been taken care of, but can still be made mandatory as per the AIFF regulations.

Another aspect where the AIFF can improve is in terms of school level and university level football. More public grounds can be commissioned in larger cities and towns, and professional school leagues organized by state associations (much like cricket) can take place.

School football should also be given an official calendar, so as to integrate all the school level tournaments like Reliance Cup, Subroto Mukherjee cup, Khelo India School Games etc and give the children more games.

This organized calendar also allows clubs to sign players in specified windows, thus helping in creating a central registration system for youth players, as well as keeping the transfer system clean and professional. The school footballing system also makes sure that the footballers attend school, and hence ensures discipline and education among potential footballers.

Unlike schools, most decent universities have full-size playing fields and good coaches, and the AIFF must make full use of these facilities by introducing university level leagues and tournaments, which act as a direct pathway to either amateur clubs, zonal league clubs or reserve sides of the top clubs.

With the top academies of the country either affiliated to top division clubs (like Chandigarh Academy and Minerva Punjab, TATA FA and Jamshedpur FC), or with foreign clubs, youngsters picked from school or university must have a clear pathway, with the best talent given opportunities to train with the best coaches in the country or abroad. The main aim here should be to give youngsters the best training possible, in order to improve their game at a tender age.

The AIFF should also continue to stick with its baby league initiative, as it has been a huge hit so far. Top academies should also be given special funds by the AIFF, in order to sustain and remain committed. Club youth systems and other academies should be regularly given ratings, and their performance must be assessed by the AIFF and state associations on a yearly basis.