Tata Football Academy's feeder centre trainees Himanshu Pandey (from left), Zulquar Nain, Harshdeep Singh and Hrithik Rai with their mentors at armoury grounds in Jamshedpur on Tuesday. (Bhola Prasad)
School footballers could well get a chance to train at Zuzenhausen, Germany.
U-Dream, a daylong football training programme to be held at Tata Football Academy (TFA) grounds in Jamshedpur on Thursday, will witness budding players trying their luck under the watchful eyes of German and Indian mentors.
The programme is being organised by U Sports, the sports division of Unilazer Ventures. In collaboration with Bundesliga, U Sports has partnered with TSG 1899 Hoffenheium for the first edition of U-Dream football, aimed at creating a rich pool of Indian talent and transform them into global sportspersons.
Aspirants between 13 and 14 are eligible to participate in the programme for which TFA is a facilitator.
TFA coach P. Vijay Kumar said 180 schoolchildren have been invited for the programme to be held from 9am to 4pm. 'Selection will be done on the basis of performance in 7-a-side tourney,' he explained.
He said ultimately, 30 footballers identified from nationwide talent hunt, would be sent to Zuzenhausen where they will train at TSG 1899 Hoffenheium's Youth Training Academy for six years.
Talent hunts have already been conducted at Pune, Mumbai, Nagpur and Cuttack. 'After Jamshedpur, the programme will be held in Calcutta,' Kumar said.
