celtic link up with top indian youth tournament
CELTIC are backing a prestigious youth football tournament in India and coaches from the club will help to train and develop the talented young footballers identified through this exciting new initiative.
The club has teamed up with The Mahindra Group, a large Indian Multinational, as it launches the Mahindra Youth Football Challenge.
It’s an under-14 school football tournament and will be held in six major India cities - Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Goa, Bangalore and Kerala – casting a wide net to identify the most talented young players in India.
Celtic will send out coaches who will take on the responsibility of training and developing the players, as well as identifying the most talented.
Chief Executive Peter Lawwell flew to India to unveil Celtic’s backing for the exciting new initiative, and he said: “We are delighted to accept this invitation to visit India and take part in the Mahindra Youth Football Challenge and we hope to establish a positive and enduring connection in the country.
“Celtic will always be much more than a football club and our social dimension will always be of paramount importance.
“Celtic already carries out fantastic community and coaching work across Scotland and Ireland and we have already translated this work to programmes across Japan, USA and Australia.
“Given Celtic's origins, Celtic has a unique story to tell and it is fantastic that there is already such interest in the club within India.
“Clearly, we are fortunate to have support for and interest in the club from across the globe and we are sure that this initiative in India will also prove very successful in showing Celtic and indeed Scottish football to a whole new audience.
“As a club open to all since its formation in 1888, Celtic at all times aims to promote inclusion and diversity.
“Celtic was formed to help an immigrant community in need and in the 120 years since the club’s formation, a charitable spirit and openness has characterised the club.
“These are qualities which will always symbolise Celtic and initiatives such as this, are hugely important to Celtic in promoting these positive messages.
“We look forward to working together, to fostering new relationships, and to welcoming young Indian players to Scotland.”
Thirty-two schools in each of the six cities will be invited to play a knockout round. This will result in a winning team from each city. These winning teams will then play against each other. The winners will be crowned the Champion of the Mahindra Youth Football Challenge.
Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of the Mahindra Group, Anand Mahindra, said: “We are delighted to be back as promised with a grassroots level football programme, a sport we have long been associated with.
“The Mahindra Youth Football Challenge aims to cultivate young talent and provide a competitive framework to hone their skills.”
Mahindra has tied up with leading sports management company, Procam International, to execute this six-city challenge.
And Vivek Singh, Joint Managing Director, Procam International, said: “It is indeed a pleasure to be associated with a project that involves such reputed entities as Mahindra and Celtic FC.
“Procam International is committed to giving India's junior footballers a playing experience they will never forget, enabling them to focus completely on the task on hand, which is to play good football.”
The winning schools from the six cities and their coaches will benefit from a four-day coaching camp to be conducted by a panel of visiting coaches from Celtic before the Inter-City Challenge.
This same panel will then shortlist 16 players from the Inter-City Challenge who will further undergo an intensive five-day long coaching clinic where two to four of the best players will be picked to travel to Scotland and Celtic Football Club for further intensive training.
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