Mohun Bagan Plan An U-17 International Tournament!

Mohun Bagan Academy is planning an International Football Festival for the U-17 this year and have roped in the services of Wizcraft event management for the same. Mohun Bagan being the only club to have its own residential academy in place took inspiration from the words of Indian national team coach Bob Houghton and technical director Colin Toal. The spokeswoman for Mohun Bagan Academy Ms. Sohini Chaubey said, “In a meeting held earlier this year, Bob Houghton and Colin Toal expressed their desire for the academies to have more competitive games in a year. Apart from the Nike – Manchester United Cup there isn’t really much happening. So, we decided to have a tournament of our own but it’s still in the planning stages.” The Kolkata champion club’s academy currently has approximately 45 kids of U-17 and U-19 age group. This year the Academy does plan to recruit U-15 too. “They (kids) are our future and we certainly can’t judge them by playing amongst themselves. They need exposure,” Sohini adds. The event is likely to take place in September or October in Kolkata with plans to have five Indian and foreign teams respectively. “We shall see to it that the event is attractive and a lot of exciting clubs participate. We’ve got to establish the event and then look for some good European names to join in. “We thank Mohun Bagan for realizing the potential in developing the younger lot by setting up its own academy,” said Nigel Empson from Wizcraft. Mohun Bagan are seriously looking to develop this tournament into an annual affair and thus, draw interest from some of the best clubs in the world. “We do have a plan. Probably in five years, we hope the tournament draws enough attention nationally and internationally,” signs off Sohini. Source: Goal.com