U-15 football players to train in Spain

Sixteen next-generation stars of Indian football, from the Under-15 boys team, have been chosen to train in Spain for 10 days under the specialised youth coaches of Real Madrid and the Spanish Federation. They will be travelling to Spain on April 15.

Former Iranian footballerJamshid Nassiri, the head mentor of the Young Heroes football tournament, with young footballers

Sixteen next-generation stars of Indian football, from the Under-15 boys team, have been chosen to train in Spain for 10 days under the specialised youth coaches of Real Madrid and the Spanish Federation. They will be travelling to Spain on April 15.

‘Young Heroes’, a one-of-its-kind grassroots program, promoted by Star Sports, was launched in August last year to identify young talent and widen the base of the Indian football pyramid.

The tournament activation programme, which is being conducted by Highlife Management, reached out to about 4,20,000 students and from the tournament population of about 6,500 footballers.

On the occasion here today, Jamshid Nassiri, ex-Iranian Footballer and head mentor, Star Sports Young Heroes, was present to share his expert advice and encourage the boys on their journey ahead.

The 16 selected youngsters for Spain are Brijit Meitei, Akash Pradhan (Bangalore), Arijit Rawat (Chandigarh), Balajied Khongrymmai, Rishikesh (all Chennai), Akshay Madkonkar (Goa), Arman Singha (Guwahati), Kiyan Nassiri (Kolkata), Md. Rafi, Adarsh, Anoop (all Kochi), Saif Caleb (Mumbai), Shourya Verma (Delhi), Remark Kharmalki, Kynsailang Khongsit, Phrangki Bum (all Shillong).