COACHES

I just completed my article on the uneven spread of football awareness in India, about the fact that seemingly did not follow any pattern known to man. I was wondering what could be the factor that is keeping football from expanding to regions other than the East, the North East and the Western Ghats. It was then that I read this interview of the Coach of the Indian National Team, Bob Houghton, on the AIFF website. He had mentioned that Savio Madeira and Stanley Rozario were his two assistant coaches and two of the most promising coaches in India.

Two of the most promising. It was my version of a Eureka moment - Two of the most promising. How many of those young Indian Coaches? Who are they? Where are they from? It would go back to the aforementioned regions. Yes, India is opening up gradually to foreign coaches, but... the natives capable of training, they play an important role in the development of the Game in any region. It is no big surprise that a professionally trained Coach can spot 20 great talents in a state of tens of millions. There's no one at the grassroots level to identify the talents in these regions, apart from International schools which focus on Sports. I believe the 6 feet plus future talents that our Coach is searching for are actually children doing manual labour for daily wages in some rural part of India. Unless there are people working full time to find such talents and put them where they really belong, no, we are not going to have the all-conquering dream team.
I seriously believe it is a very big win-win situation for AIFF to sign up a few managerial talents from all over India for a few years and get them up to the FA level, by sponsoring them for those certifications. Personally, I feel a lot of people would come forward (and a LOT is an understatement) and this can be held as a Talent hunt all over India with the AIFF's Television Partner.

Bottom-line: At least one person per state.

These people can sign a contract to remain under the AIFF for two years or more, depending on the Sponsorship. They can work toward identifying some more people from their regions, while their major job will be to raise the skills bar and make every state in India as competent as any other. The skill level in the I-League goes up, the football base becomes a lot bigger with the Sport spreading through India, and I can keep predicting lot more benefits.
And the win for the AIFF does not end there. This may sound very far-fetched, but we are talking about the best talent in the country. Coaches with big time certifications and those who prove themselves here will be heavily sought after, and there's the contract. With more talents coming out of the state, the first person will be capable of moving on to other clubs, if the AIFF and the person come to a mutual agreement. And another big win comes out of releasing the coaches.
Though this looks more like a business proposal for the AIFF to see, the Ultimate winner is... You got it, Indian football.