Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, March 4: A two-day trial camp for selection to the Tata Football Academy (TFA) jointly organised by Unit-VI Athletic Association and Tata Steel started at the Unit-VI Ground here Friday.
Sixty five young footballers across the country participated on the first day of the trial. There are 55 participants from Orissa and the rest are from Jammu & Kashmir, Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand.
“Many could not participate in the trial today (Friday) for their examinations. More participants are expected to join the camp tomorrow (Saturday),” stated Unit-VI Athletic Association vice-president Prafulla Kumar Mishra. “Fourteen players from the camp will be selected for the main camp to be conducted at Jamshedpur in May.
“TFA is organising this kind of talent hunt programme throughout the country since the last eight years. So far six Orissa players have been inducted into the academy,” he added.
Coach Indranil Chakrabarty from West Bengal is conducting the camp. Talking about the selection criteria process Indraneel said, “We are considering players who are future prospects of tournaments like ISL and the I- League. So the ideal candidate should have a height of at least 5’ 5’’ and weigh 55kg. The player should be technically, tactically and physically strong.
“The selected players will train with us for four years. The physical and technical standard of the guys will automatically improve with our modern training methods, diet and exposure trips,” added the former India under-16 player.
Talking about the chances of players from Orissa, Indranil stated that they have the ability to make it big. “Orissa players definitely have potential. That’s why we have come all the way from Jamshedpur to hunt talent here,” he said.
Football tourney
Unit-VI Athletic Association (UAA) will play host to the 18th Tata Utkalika Cup Invitational football tournament at the Unit-VI High School Ground here starting March 6. “Eight teams, including two outstation sides will participate in the event, which carries a prize purse of `35,000,” stated UAA secretary Dilip Das.
