BENGALURU: As Indian football has made its journey from amateur to professional leagues, kids too, are looking at taking up professional football. Of late, the number of academies in big and small cities has increased rapidly. Even the famous European and South American clubs have started investing in football academies in India. But, has that triggered a revolution in Indian football? The statistics point otherwise. Only a handful of Indian footballers have ever played in the European leagues (first division) while the current number is a resounding zero.
While some may argue that it’s the general lack of quality among Indian footballers that has made the road difficult. But that isn’t the case. It’s the approach among Indian academies that has been a deterrent in a footballer’s growth. Take the example of Bengaluru’s Anshuman Seebe Arun. The 14-year-old trained at city’s two famous academies.
Yet, his development as a player remained stagnant. What’s missing was a tailored approach to his development. That’s when a former footballer and IIM-Lucknow graduate Satyajit Sadanandan stepped in. The FIFA grassroots instructor helped Anshuman grow as a player using analytics. And within a year’s time, he got a call-up from the India national U-15 team camp.
Sadanandan customised a 360-degree training programme for Anshuman — something that is only seen in elite clubs and academies in Europe. The programme included meticulous assessments and player benchmarking — with focus on coaching, fitness and nutrition. Sadanandan even brought in Pontus Maltborg, a Swedish football development analyst, who helped Anshuman improve his skills.“Before Satya sir stepped in, I was just another player in the academy. I used to train thrice a week and hardly ever made an impact. But he analysed me in few games and helped me better my skills,” Anshuman says.
Now, Anshuman trains at Ikast FS, a feeder club to a Superliga team in Denmark. There, the youngster has changed his position from a left winger to left-back, something that helped him establish himself as a player. The coaches in the academy are pleased with his progress while the coaches in the India U-15 camp have also promised to monitor his growth and call-up to the first team is possible in the near future.
“I have had to undergo a big change in Ikast. The approach there is completely different. Where I used to play only 3-4 matches a month in India, now I play 10 matches a month. What Satya sir accomplished was bridge the gap between players and academies and that really helped,” said Anshuman, who has also played in I-league U-13 and U-15.
Sadanandan’s guidance programme has a name now – Smart Sports Parenting. And under that, six footballers from the city (total 14) are training in different academies across the world. “Seeing my expertise, when Arun approached me to help Anshuman, I didn’t think of taking it forward. But that’s when I saw the gap between the players and academy programmes. Players hardly benefit from that as there is no scientific approach. Since I have worked with FIFA and a few clubs in Europe, it helps me guide them in a better way. The aim in future will be to help as many kids as possible to fulfil their dreams in football,” says Sadanandan.