HYDERABAD: Sachin Tendulkar’s Indian Super League franchise Kerala Blasters Wednesday announced a partnership with Hyderabad Football Academy (HFA) for grassroots football talent development in the city.
Founded in 2014 by young trio M Atif Hyder, Tejo Ananth Dasari and Pavan Kumar Duvva, Hyderabad Football Academy offers professional training to more than 300 aspiring grassroots footballers in 4 astro–turfs in the city as well as an international school.
The grassroots development collaboration was announced in the presence of Nimmagadda Prasad co-owner Kerala Blasters and Varun Tripuraneni, CEO, Kerala Blasters here Wednesday. Prasad said: “We at Kerala Blasters are extremely thrilled on this partnership with the Hyderabad Football Academy. We have focused a lot on grassroot development establishing over 20 football schools across the state of Kerala with over 1,500 kids participating.”
Mohammed Atif Hyder, founder & director of HFA, noted: “We are very pleased and excited that Kerala Blasters have put faith in our grassroots development approach. We aim at providing a platform for youngsters to come out and showcase their talent. We are confident together with the guidance and support from Kerala Blasters we will achieve our goals beginning today.”
Talking of the academy’s immediate goals, Tejo Ananth Dasari director of HFA, said: “Our target is to enrol 1,000 students in the near future, provide the best football training facilities in the city with modern-day methods of training by eminent coaches. We encourage students to take up football at a very young age and this helps lay the foundation for their growth in the sport.”
HFA now plans to introduce a 11-a-side school league, for which schools from all over the city will be invited to participate. The best players from this league will be given a scholarship in the HFA and also sent for tryouts to the Kerala Blasters youth teams.
Going forward HFA aims to set up 10 professional football academies in the city to nurture the best football talents from the city and neighbouring regions.
The HFA also provides its coaches to an NGO that works with government schools.
HFA’s stated plan is to host multiple tournaments throughout the year for different age groups to help promote the culture of football in the walled city.
