BANGALORE (India) – A different reality, and one that Inter know well. India is moving closer to football through grassroots sporting activities for children. Inter Academy, represented by technical director Marco Monti, is sizing up various locations and situations in order to define an agreement with Play on Skills Pvt, the Indian club dedicated to youth football.
It was from Bangalore that Monti’s journey began, and it was a much longer trip to reach these spots when compared to those the Nerazzuri have undertaken over the last three years. It was a way to deepen a mutual understanding, which also came through the experience of the Tata Tea Jaago Re Inter Milan Soccer Stars; a scholastic competition that involved 6,500 boys in2012. The sixteen best U-15 players chosen by Monti in the tournament’s final were then hosted for a week of training at the Centro Sportivo Giacinto Facchetti and took part in the Inter Friendship Cup.
The relationship led to a sense of esteem and today the possibility of three permanent Academies are being studied, along with several football schools. Bangalore is just the first one being examined, and 17 other locations have been identified for the football schools. Along with Play on Skills, Inter have been exchanging information and ideas that have by now been tested out regarding the development of football in India. And now these things are becoming an exciting reality.
