Ishan Bora

Calcutta, July 25: Ishan Borah is a boy with a ball at his feet and dreams in his eyes.

And his dreams to be a master at controlling the ball take wings as he prepares for a prized training stint with football powerhouse Bayern Munich in Germany.

The 16-year old boy has become one of the two winners at the East Zone finale of the fourth Bajaj Allianz Junior Football Camp, held in association with TTIS.

Apart from the Bayern Munich stint, the prize includes a visit to Allianz Arena and watching the Uefa Champions League champions in action.

Borah, along with Anupam Sarkar of Calcutta, competed with around 25,000 aspirants from more than 400 schools, clubs and coaching centres across eastern India to win this stint.

The boys were selected on the basis of their superior football skills by a panel of judges headed by Kalyan Chaubey, former Indian International goalkeeper.

The student of Kendriya Vidyalaya (IOCL), Noonmati, started playing football at the age of eight and has decided to take it up as a career.

“I don’t like to study. My parents say that even for a sportsman it is important to be educated so I have to study but my passion is football. I want to represent India someday. I want to join the Mohun Bagan school for more opportunities and later play for the club,” he said.

The boy’s football fantasy, though, is to play for Bayern Munich, which he mentions with a chuckle, and his sporting hero is Christiano Ronaldo.

This year, five teenagers from across the country have been selected for the camp in August 2013.

As part of Bajaj Allianz’s commitment to nurturing football talent, the selected youngsters would receive training scholarships under the Youth Development Programme of India’s National Club, Mohun Bagan, on their return.

The junior football camp is organised in association with Allianz, the official partner of FC Bayern Munich.

The camp will be held in Munich in August 2013 and gives teenagers from across the world between the ages of 14 and 16 years the opportunity to meet and train with the legendary FC Bayern Munich coaches on the club’s official training ground.

They will also get a chance to attend a match at Allianz Arena, the unique football stadium and meet football stars from FC Bayern Munich like Thomas Mueller, Bastian Schweinsteiger and others.