City talent attracts Bhutia Schools

Those three hours of pure mayhem and delightful visuals highlighted what was to come in the coming two days of the free coaching,as a part of Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools,for the local children aged between 5 to 16 years of age. The registration figures,more than 300,were very encouraging and are expected to swell in the coming hours.

Two names,that of Tavares and Bhaichung Bhutia,the most respected figure in Indian football, specially acted like magnets to attract even the most unlikeliest fans. Bhutia would be in Chandigarh,in flesh on June 30,to grace the the final day of the Chandigarh Football League,a new format league to be held after the three-day coaching camp.

“I am so happy to be here. The first day has been absolutely fantastic and hopefully the remaining two days will turn out to be just as great. Chandigarh has always been on our radar and it is nice to see lots of talented players here,” chuckled Tavares,who has represented Portugal international U-15 and U-18 teams.

The city,with all the success at the national-level,specially the recent landmark victory in Indian finals which helped them book a berth in the South East Asia Zone finals of the Manchester United Premier Cup,has been the hot spot for lots of football clubs in India.

“Also,the proximity of Chandigarh to Delhi has been one of the other reasons which brought us here. Chandigarh is a rising state in Indian football and we are more than happy to provide training to the young talents across all parts of India. If things work out and we get the desired infrastructure,we might roll out a center in Chandigarh to cater to the young generation who want to get into football,but lack the training and proper infrastructure,” asserted Kishor Taid,one of the founding members of the Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools,that came into existence in October 2010.

Football’s perfect ambassador

Tavares came to India one and a half years ago,on the insistence of Bhaichung’s good friend,Carlos Queiroz,former coach of the Portugal national team and assistant manager to Sir Alex Ferguson,coach at Manchester United. For the first six months,he trained the kids at BBFS center in Delhi,was then given the job of the coach at Sikkim United Football Club (Bhaichung’s football club) and now for the past six months,Tavares has been working at the BBFS to train some more wonderful kids.

“I share a very good rapport with Bhaichung. He is a wonderful player and equally amazing person. He has done an excellent job for Indian football,and even after taking retirement from international football,he has been constantly working for the betterment of Indian football at the grassroot level,” shared Tavares,who has played as a central defender for clubs like Esposende FC and Penafiel FC (Portugal),Sydney Olympic FC(Australia),Persebaya club (Indonesia) and Lowestof FC (England).

Tavares has travelled all over the world,played across all the continents,and coached some of the best names in football with Fulham FC.

But time,as well the times,change.

Tavares,still carrying dreams of coaching a big professional team on his shoulders,wants to develop football at the grassroot level before some more winds of change blow in his directions.

“I have travelled all over India and I have seen lots of untapped talents. We have lots of Bhaichungs,Rennedy Singhs and Sunil Chhetris in the making provided we give them good training at the grassroot level. We can change the fortune of Indian football with proper vision and by coming up with good youth development programmes. Like Bhutia,more people and organisations should come forward to work for the betterment of Indian football. That is why we want to cover the whole of India in the next 2-3 years to provide good training not only to the players,but also to the coaches,” he added.

Recently,two boys from Delhi,trained by Tavares,became professional players for United Sikkim FC,the team which qualified for I-League for the upcoming season. Hard work,according to Tavares,was the key to success for them.