Fateh Hyderabad gets down to grassroot football

Hyderabad: With a view to developing the game at the grassroot level, Fateh Hyderabad — the city’s only professional football club — has embarked on a project to popularise the Beautiful Game. Titled One Child, One Ball, the program plans to instill footballing culture among kindergarten kids with a view to reaping a richer harvest in the future. As part of that, Fateh have roped in coach and entrepreneur Tom Byer as co-owner of the team.

“Introducing young children to the ball and grooming them is our endeavour,” Fateh founder Yogesh Maurya said. Tom, who has been associated with the world’s major football clubs and governing bodies, plans to make this a model project in India via Hyderabad. “It’s a bottom-up approach that will involve the parents as much as the kids. Nurturing them is the key. Culture beats coaching any day,” the American said. The Florets group of schools are the first to sign up for the program to catch them young.