Indian Young Champs visit England to experience football at PL academies
AS A PART OF Indian Super League’s (ISL) partnership with the English Premier League, Indian young champs visited and played against English academies. Reliance Foundation Young champs is a co-operation between Premier League (PL) and its clubs and the ISL, which is working towards the growing popularity of Indian football.
As a part of a 12-day tour, the Indian Youth Champs visited eight clubs. The Indian youngsters enjoyed coaching from the clubs they visited and also played matches against PL academy counterparts. They were toured stadiums and took part in community days.
The visit to West Bromwich Albion was special as the kids got to learn about the functioning of the club in its local area and also got to try out blind football and power-chair football.
Rob Lake, the director of the Albion Foundation told premierleague.com,
"The partnership between the Indian Super League and the Premier League will be mutually beneficial. For the ISL, it's an opportunity for the League to share good practice and knowledge.
The co-operation agreement between the two leagues allows ISL to utilise PL's expertise in nurturing and growing a high-quality of football competition. PL is also set to aid ISL in establishing club governance, engaging fans and shaping the brand. On the other hand, ISL will help PL clubs to stage matches and other development initiatives in India.
The director further added,
"We've got hundreds of years of experience of footballing culture; football is new to Indians and they want to learn from the biggest and best in the world so that will be the advantage for them. The games are watched live, kids are wearing the shirts, and it's important our club and other clubs in the Premier League are giving something back to help them to develop their league so they can rival the PL in the future."
Here, West Bromwich Albion officials are seen giving a glimpse about the whole event:
With @IndSuperLeague, football is growing even faster in India thanks to the expertise of @WBA... #AlbionInIndiahttps://t.co/BngiNaJwkS
— PL Communities (@PLCommunities) June 7, 2016
