Since 1959, Goa Football Association (GFA) established as the official administrative body of football in the state of Goa has been making endeavouring to develop football to 'keep pace with the fast changing scenario in the country.'
However, the local crop of players, with no structured training and sub standard level of technical fundamentals emerged as they only had playing experiences limited to inter-village tournaments organised in the rice fields of Goa. To advance quality of competition, marketing, sponsorships and greater audiences, GFA introduced their 'Youth Development Programme' (YDP) in 1998, with financial support from Kannan Devan, a subsidiary of the Tata Tea Company. In addition to promoting professional football, GFA's YDP like the Grassroots Football Programme and the Mahindra Youth Football Challenge are equipping young players become proficient in the game. The GFA YDP aims to encourage football participation from the grassroots and provide a pathway for recreational as well as elite performance football players.
The Youth Development Committee(YDC) introduced a new system to allow continuity of the development programme by establishing a training centre for various age groups and by training and developing 'youth coaches' for grassroot level development. The GFA partners with Clubs to organise and spread youth development. The YDC supports the clubs by providing qualified coaches, equipment and media archives of games, etc.
The Grassroots Football Programme with the aim of developing a cadre of community sports coaches for capacity building of the GFA to deliver a high quality, regular, age-appropriate, inclusive and fun YDP for children from the ages of 8 to 14 years in Goa. GFA as one of five partners of the Australian Sports Outreach Programme (ASOP) in India believes that a game as football should be broad based and they are committed to introducing and ensuring a quality football program at the grassroots for those children who do not have access to quality sport. The motto "Better coaches, better football" serves to grow the knowledge pool of football coaches in Goa (especially at the junior/community coach level). A collaborative partnership with Football Federation Australia (FFA), to ensure that program inputs and delivery meet certain quality standards so as to benefit all concerned stakeholders as well as establish growth pathways for coaches and athletes.
For more, please visit Goa Football Association website.
- Information taken from the Goa Football Association Website