Maharashtra organises Grassroot football coaching course with AIFF & FIFA support

The Western India Football Association, the Maharashtra state body of football, is since Wednesday, April 17 organising a five-day grassroots football course to boost development of the game in the 6 to 12 age category.

29 coaches from nine districts across Maharashtra are participating in the course which is being held at the Cooperage Ground with WIFA organising it under the aegis of the All India Football Federation and world football governing body FIFA.

The participanting coaches are from the districts of Satara, Kolhapur, Pune, Osmanabad, Nagpur, Thane, Jalgaon, Solapur and Mumbai. They are being trained under the watchful eyes of FIFA Instructor Vincent Subramaniam and AIFF Grassroots Program Manager Suvrat Thatte.

The five day intensive course for grassroot coaches included theory and practical sessions.

"The primary objective of the programme is to attract more people towards football and popularise the game at grassroots level by providing opportunity to every child who is interested in playing football. This is an initiative that will go a long way in developing the game of football in the long run in Maharashtra," said WIFA Secretary Souter Vaz.

"The AIFF and Western India Football Association have taken utmost care to choose the candidates for this course. They would drive further the philosophy of grassroots football in every nook and corner of Maharashtra with many such courses all over the state," said WIFA CEO Henry Menezes.

The course will conclude on Sunday, April 21 with a football festival involving around 200 young footballers.