They’re Hungary for more

Mumbai: At a time when Indian football is in doldrums after a string of recent failures, a squad of 10-year-olds is aiming to heal the wound. The children, from Kenkre FC here in Matunga, will represent India in the Upper Austria Cup and Youth Football Festival in Hungary starting July 12.

The young soccer stars will take on the best teams from Argentina, Portugal, Spain, England amongst other nations within their age group.

Meet 10-year-old Joshua Mendes, attacking midfielder, donning the same jersey number as Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo (No 7). In a cricket crazy nation, the youngster did not think twice before taking up the beautiful game.

“I’ve taken it up because of Cristiano and Lionel Messi,” said Joshua, who is keen to become a professional footballer.

Considering the situation of football in the sub-continent and the pressure of classroom education, does that bother Joshua’s father? “If asked this question 10 years ago, I would probably have my inhibitions but now sports is a career option. You have academies and life after sport. If my son decides to become a footballer, I would give him two thumbs up,” said Alfred, Joshua’s father, who is a senior Human Resource manager in a business firm.

Diwalkar Pingle, a business consultant and the father of Vedant —Kenkre FC’s striker — asserted that children do need the basic educational qualifications. “Forget 10 years down the line, Vedant tells me to take him out of studies now which is not right. You need to let the kids pursue their passion but you also need to tell them that not everyone will succeed in this field. Hence, a basic graduation degree is a must,” he said.

“If my child makes it big over a period of time, the returns from that will far exceed from what an engineer or doctor could do. I’m not saying Vedant will become a Rooney or a Messi, but the opportunities are there,” he added.

Nine-year-old Vedant was bold enough to point out why football isn’t as popular as cricket. “In schools, you need more physical training, you need to be more active. You don’t get as many competitions to feature in Mumbai, only get to play in the MSSA (Mumbai School Sports Association) tournaments,” he said.

With so many ugly incidents taking place on the field, will it bother the parents whose kids will be all alone on the tour? “You do have a feeling that your child could get injured. In the last two years, I haven’t seen him injured. He has had a couple of knocks but the coaching staff took good care,” Diwalkar said.

“But since Indians are slightly shorter than European kids, I told my son not to tackle hard, he’s still young and I don’t want him to have a career threatening injury right now,” he added.

Joshua, unlike other children, is not only glued to European football. He is aware of Indian footballers and the ongoing tournaments.  “I have been to a few Indian Super League matches and I like Sunil Chhetri and Subrata Paul. I watch foreign footballers more as it improves my game. Television channels show you skills that foreign footballers perform to dodge a player,” Joshua said.

Training these children has been a challenge for Sachin Panchal, the Under-10 team coach. “The kids get tired fast as they have school practise coupled with club practise. A young footballer needs to have good skills and decent behaviour,” said Panchal, who also keeps a close watch for aspiring talents.

Joshua Lewis, the CEO of Kenkre FC, believes it is essential for coaches to share a good rapport with parents whose children are talented. “We maintain a close rapport with parents as you need to nurture these young talented players. A good rapport between the child, the parent and the coach is necessary because the parent should know who is shaping their child for the future. It’s a three-way process,” said Lewis.

That these parents agreed to send their children abroad for exposure, is a positive sign for Indian football. “It can never (just be about) a coach and a child. No matter how talented the child is, if the parent doesn’t get him/her on the ground, the child is never going to grow,” Lewis concluded.

(Photos: DC/Rajesh Jadhav)