Football training centre in Kolkata
Kolkata, August 11: The Sports Authority of India has joined hands with the Indian Football Association to start a Centre Of Excellence (COE) for men's football and a round-the-year women soccer training camp at its Eastern Centre here.
Advertisement:The COE would start next month with 16 footballers in the age group of 14 to 18 year, IFA secretary Subrata Dutta said at a media meet here last night. Thirty women footballers between 14 and 19 years of age would be recruited for the training centre, which would have residential facilities.
New Galway football training centre
The new €1.5 million training centre for Galway footballers at Loughgeorge on the Tuam Road is almost complete and will be officially opened next month. The state-of-the-art centre will be the training base for all Galway football teams and the new building will also be used for Football Board meetings and other events.
The two floodlit pitches have been used for training for the Galway teams for some years but now they have been upgraded and a hi-tech gym has been included in the new development.
"One of the pitches is the exact size of Croke Park. We did this so that players would know the exact dimensions, because everything is geared towards preparing teams for the highest stage," said Galway Football Board chairman Pat Egan.
The dressing rooms are designed to cater for large squads with each player having his own compartment, with the Galway crest on each of them.
A large gym is the focal point of the building, complete with medical room. Other facilities include a washing room for playing gear, while the dining hall can cater for about 200 people.
"This training facility is a huge boost to Galway football," added Egan.
Foot Ball Training Center in thailand
After waiting for nearly a century, Thai football has at last taken the first step on the road to a national training centre for all players, from national stars to juniors. But the whole project will not be ready for two years. The building will take one year and then it will be another year before everything is ready and the training of players can start. French legend Platini, who is known as the ``Napoleon'' in his native country for all his has done for football in France, was the chairman of opening ceremony on 4th December 2002. Besides Platini, the other key men present yesterday were Football Association of Thailand (FAT) president Vijit Getkaew and secretary-general Worawi Makudi, and the governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT), Santiparb Tejavanija. .
"This football training centre is a Fifa project and part of Fifa's policy to help in the development of football throughout the world. "Fifa doesn't help countries in purely financial terms but also makes sure the money is used in the right way. "Football is a simple game, you only need a ball and a pitch in order to play the game and when the ball is in the field anything can happen. "This is the first step for Thai football and will help it go forward not only in the preparation for the national team but also in the development of youngsters and coaches as well. "This is the first step on the road for Thailand to go on to reach world-class level in football. "It should help Thailand one day become one of the 32 teams to reach the finals of the World Cup and maybe even win the World Cup one day like France and Brazil."
The association is working hard to see football here develop and one day become world class. Being one of the 32 teams to reach the World Cup finals is not just a dream.
This training centre will be the centre for creating national teams. Every team from the juniors to the national team will train at this centre. This training centre is our weapon for the future. We are aiming to one day be a finalist in the World Cup and this training centre will help considerably.
