It is said that one learns more from defeat that from winning. The Ahmedabad-based Youth Club Soccer Academy (YCSA) boys will surely second this.
It is said that one learns more from defeat that from winning. The Ahmedabad-based Youth Club Soccer Academy (YCSA) boys will surely second this. They returned from Guthenburg, Sweden, where they participated in the Gothia Cup, the World Youth Cup, last week.
The team coached by Shakti Chauhan and captained by Vaibhav Savaliya lost all matches. Placed in Group Seven with two Swedish teams — Jonsereds IF and Ljungskile SK — and Bjorkelangen Sportsforening of Norway, YCSA conceded 44 goals. But that has not left them dejected. As Abhishekh Patel puts it: “I enjoyed every moment out there. I learnt many things like team spirit and controlling the ball.” The Calorx Foundation School student also said that the physique of the players of the other teams made a big difference. “We have to improve our physical fitness, speed and stamina,” said the 13-year-old forward, who idolises Fernando Torres of Spain.
Coach Chauhan echoes similar sentiments. “Bjorkelangen had a few girls rubbing shoulders with the boys. It was an unbelievable sight. Those girls dribbled the ball and got past our players easily,” said Chauhan, who is pretty satisfied with the results as the boys had very few days of practice before they left Indian shores.
Chauhan, a junior selector of Ahmedabad district football, had a good interactive session with a coach from Brazil. “Sanchez, who was from Rio, told me that in Brazil, boys of three and four learn how to control the ball (not allowing it to fall to the ground). And they had practised for the tournament for the last ten months,” Chauhan recalled about his interaction with the Brazilian.
The coach also observed that the diet habits were one of the major causes of the Indians lacking stamina. “I saw that every boy had a diet schedule. They had specialised coaches, two different jumpers for warm-ups and the game, energy drinks and markers very much like professionals. But here, nobody cares for it. Before the Guthenburg trip, I had just heard of those things. But now, I have experienced them,” said Chauhan. Guthenburg hosted 1,561 teams from 63 countries during the weeklong tournament, which was played on 24 different grounds, including three of artificial grass.
The squad: Vinay Bachkaniwala, Viraj Shukla, Jill Popat, Abhishekh Patel, Parth Patel, Ujjwal Pandya, Vidit Mehta, Samveg Dalal, Harshvardhan Sarvagyam, Harsh Lalwani and Vaibhav Savaliya.
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