AIFF organised Coaches Workshop concludes in New Delhi

The three-day Coaches Workshop for Coaches concluded at the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi earlier today. The Workshop which was conducted by AIFF Technical Director Rob Baan and Scott O'Donell, Technical Manager for Regional and Elite Academies, was attended by 12 Indian Coaches plus a Coach from Australia.

This was the second such Workshop which was organised by the All India Football Federation – the earlier one being held in the Capital from January 13 - 15, 2012.

The Workshop came in for praise from the participants. Former Team India Assistant Coach Stanley Rozario, who has also coached the Kolkata Big-Two, felt the Workshop was a breath of fresh air. "It was nice to refresh myself. Such a Workshop was long due and it was nice to be a part of it. Both Rob and Scott stressed on playing possessional football. It was great to interact with them," Stanley said.

Narayana Menon, India's Under-23 Assistant Coach at the Pre-Olympic qualifiers, added, "The focus is now shifting on the juniors. The intention is to create players who will be the flag-bearer for Indian football in the future. My only regret stays that it only lasted three days. It would have been excellent if we could spend more time at the Workshop."

The Workshop had different Theoretical and Practical Sessions – while the Theoretical sessions were held at Clarks Inn at Lajpat Nagar, the practical sessions were conducted at the Ambedkar Stadium.

Besides the Indian coaches, Arthur Pappas from Australia also attended the Workshop and said "it was nice to be in India."

"It is very important for Indian football to develop Indian Coaches. The Workshop was very innovative and helpful indeed," Arthur explained.

"This concept was a new one. The Workshop highlighted a style which Rob and Scott believe will take Indian football forward. I thank the All India Football Federation for arranging such a Workshop," Meghalaya's Thangboi Singto, Shillong Lajong FC's Assistant Coach, commented.

The list of the coaches stay as follows:

Thangboi Singto (Meghalaya), Satheevan Balan, Narayana Menon (both Kerala), Stanley Rozario (Karnataka), Subrata Bhattacharya, Satyabrata Bhowmick, Mridul Kanti Banerjee, Ranjan Bhattacharya (all West Bengal), Anadi Barua (Delhi), Santanu Basu, Bidhan Das (both Assam), Keshav Dutt (Haryana)