At the Kanchenjunga Stadium here on Thursday, the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC), the biggest civic organization in north Bengal, opened its football academy. The academy was formally opened by Mayor Gautam Deb, who also stated that the project would prepare Siliguri’s and the surrounding areas’ bright football players for competitions at the national level. We established the football academy in order to give the aspiring players the right guidance. After opening the academy at the stadium, Deb stated, “This will help them to hone their play so that they can find the opportunity to play in different football clubs of the country.”
Attending the event were representatives of Siliguri Mahakuma Krira Parishad, the city’s sub-divisional sports organization, and deputy mayor Ranjan Sarkar. 50 young football players from two age groups—Under 12 and Under 14—would first receive training at the facility, according to sources. The academy’s head coach, Jaybrata Ghosh, stated that they were chosen by professionals from the tea estates and other parts of the Siliguri region.”We chose the players in their age groups by holding a screening camp at Naxalbari in September of this year. In order for some of these players to compete in the Youth I League, a competition for young football players, next year, we intend to help them develop their skills,” coach Ghosh stated. possessing a license from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
Ajay Tamang and Pulak Ghosh, both of whom hold AFC diploma licenses, will support him. Goalkeeping coaching will be provided by Dipankar Debnath, who holds a goalkeeper level-1 license and an AFC C diploma. According to civic authority sources, the required steps have been initiated for an SMC team to compete in the All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) Youth-I League. Training will take place at the academy on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 7.30 to 9.30 a.m. According to a source, “the civic board is taking responsibility for providing players with football kits and maintaining the soccer ground, even though it isn’t a residential football academy.”
