Indian Super League (ISL) football franchise Delhi Dynamos today held open trials for boys born in the year 2004 or 2005 at the New Willingdon Ground, Chanakyapuri. The event saw impressive turnout of over 350 people not just from Delhi, but also from its neighbouring states like Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
The children turned up for the trials wearing their favourite football club jerseys. Around 120 kids were shortlisted, who will participate in the final round on April 3, 2016 in the presence of international coaches from the Reliance Foundation Young Champs Programme and Delhi Dynamos FC. From the finals, top aspirants will be picked up who will then be sent to Mumbai for a final round of screening to stand a chance to be part of the Reliance Young Champs residential academy.
The Trials also saw Francisco Fernandes, Delhi Dynamos player and Indian National Team veteran to motivate the players and encourage them to take up the beautiful game. The player made an honest appeal to all the players to take up the sport sincerely stressing on the importance of regular training.
The Reliance Foundation Young Champs program Programme is a multi-year football scholarship for the 24-25 most talented boys identified through the ISL grassroots program from all over India. The scholarship, which commenced in June 2015 last year, will include includes football training, education, nutrition, injury management etc. and is directed towards providing the best possible platform for Indian talent to grow and emerge on the international stage.
Prashant Agarwal, President - Delhi Dynamos FC, said: “I am thrilled to see such a huge turnout for our Trials. The enthusiasm and skills in these children is impressive and I hope to see more and more children participating and benefitting from the Delhi Dynamos grassroots program. Since the establishment of The Club, we have taken up the mantle of developing football in the whole of The Northern region of India and we plan to continue and expand the scope of our grassroots programme. We recently saw our Hon’ble Prime Minister speak to the entire nation about the importance of football at the grassroots level. We sincerely feel this will add increased support from the Government, acting as a catalyst to football in Northern India.’
Through the grassroots initiatives, the club is looking at encouraging budding players and providing them with the right platform to display their skills. The Dynamos hope to sustainably develop and encourage football talent in the city.
