THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: I-League side Gokulam FC inaugurated its fifth football academy in the Venpalavattom suburb of Thiruvananthapuram recently.
The academy, the first by Gokulam FC in south Kerala, launched in association with Sparta Sports Arena, a city-based sports club, will serve to find and nurture young talents from the region, New Indian Express reports.
The school, which will function like a non-residential academy, will be training players in the U-18 and U-14 categories. The coaching sessions will be organised by licensed coaches chosen by Gokulam FC.
This is the first time that a club-based academy is being set up in the capital, Arun Kunnummmal, one of the founders of SportsArena. told the daily.
“One of our main aims is to develop football at the grassroots level and several youngsters have been trained under Gokulam Kerala FC in various schools. Southern Kerala has always had the potential and produced several eminent players. We want to identify and groom talents from an early age and develop them into professional footballers,” Bino George, technical director of Gokulam FC, told NIE.
Currently, the Malabar-based club has its academies in Nilambur, Vadakara, Perinthalmanna and Thrissur. “We are also planning to start a girls academy in Thiruvananthapuram next year for finding talents for our U-13 and U-14 teams,” said Mizpha Richards, marketing manager of Gokulam FC.
