New Delhi, May 1 (Inditop) Spanish football giants Barcelona Friday started a three-day clinic for Indian coaches and children at the Ambedkar Stadium here.
Around 30 coaches from North India participated on the first day and were taught the basics of coaching by Barcelona instructors — Guillermo Oriol Gili, Joan Della Morte and Ivan Palanco Santiago.
On Saturday and Sunday around 200 children in the age group of 10-14 from St. Mark’s School and some NGOs will be given training in two batches.
“For a good youth development programme it is important for Indian coaches to know what kind of programme we follow at Barcelona Academy. In this short time we can just teach them the system we follow at Barcelona and that can help them,” Gili said.
AIFF’s coaching director Gabriel Joseph told IANS that the initiative will teach Indian coaches the value of professionalism.
Santiago, who is a youth team coach at Barcelona, said after the successful clinic in Vietnam he is looking forward to train Indian kids.
“We got a good response in Vietnam. It is a small country with lot of talent. And India is a big country. I am sure we will have a good stint with talented youngsters here,” he said.
The clinic is an initiative of Japanese company YKK, who started the YKK Just for Kids clinic with Barcelona in Singapore in 2007. The programme has also been launched in Vietnam and now comes to India in association with the All India Football Federation (AIFF).
The kids will also get kits from the Barcelona club.
rounak