JEDDAH — More and more boys from IYWA Football Academy are making it into their respective school football teams, the association announced on its first anniversary here recently. According to the academy's coordinator, Mir Gazanfar Ali Zaki, who is also General Secretary of IYWA, around 80 boys in the age group of 8-16 years took part in the year-long soccer coaching camp. The camp not only encourages teenagers to come out of the indoor shell of gadgets and devices, but also engages them in outdoor sports activity to develop their physical fitness. It also helped generate interest in the parents of boys who took part in the camp as they also had to leave their beds early on their day off and bring their kids to the ground. Consul (Community Welfare), Consulate General of India, S.R.H. Fahmi, who was the chief guest as the academy celebrated its first anniversary, exhorted the children to get the most out of the free coaching camp and try to achieve excellence and earn recognition for their school, state and country. He was excited to see players from all states and religions of India practicing together. He urged the community members to come up with more such programs for the welfare of the community irrespective to caste, creed and religion. Zaki said the coaching camp aims to develop the skills of boys through scientific training methods under the guidance of Indian national football trainers. Senior national- and state-level players like Mohammed Jaweed (chief coach), Jyothi Kumar and Mir Fazal Ali as assistant coach have been giving intensive training, while the camp is managed by Anwar ul Haq (in charge) and Farooq Ahmed as his deputy. He said the academy has divided boys into groups — senior, junior and sub-junior — for focused training, which includes fun-based learning for younger children and an intense training for the older children. The training sessions also include one-on-one programs such as goalkeeper training, forward, defender and midfielder training, etc. The coaching camp also concentrates on skill, endurance and fitness sessions with constant monitoring of every child enrolled. Earlier, IYWA President S.P. Singh welcomed the gathering and expressed his gratitude to the participating children and their parents for their keen interest and enthusiasm. Ramnarayan Iyer, Chief Patron of IYWA, also spoke on the occasion.
