THE BLOG BY CPD FOOTBALL | The World of Indian football and beyond by Chris Punnakkattu Daniel

Delhi Dynamos FC to hold Open Football Trials

Delhi Dynamos FC to hold Open Football Trials
Delhi Dynamos FC to hold Open Football Trials

Picture courtesy: Hero Indian Super League (ISL) / IMG-Reliance

This April will see a football revolution sweep Delhi. Young and budding under-13 football players in the city will get an opportunity to showcase their talent and get a shot at a multi-year football scholarship and the chance to train, learn and play alongside some of the best fresh talent across the country.

Continuing its efforts in grassroots and youth football development, the Delhi Dynamos Football Club (DDFC), the national capital’s very own football team in the Indian Super League, launched the second leg of its grassroots programme in Delhi-NCR. DDFC wants to create sustainable opportunities for under-13 children in the region through Open trials, starting April 11, 2015.

In 2014, the inaugural year of the Indian Super League & the Delhi Dynamos FC, the Dynamos had initiated a grassroots football development program in Delhi, ‘Junior Dynamos’, which became one of the  largest ever Inter-School Football Tournament with a participation of over 2,400 players from over 180 schools

The Dynamos are now stepping up their game by holding Delhi’s first ever open football trials to discover and identify real footballing talent at a young age and nurture it through a multi-year scholarship and exposure to the A-team. DDFC hopes to refine these children’s game skills, enhance their technical knowledge and ultimately mould them into professional football players.

The first of these open football trials will be held in Delhi on April 11 at the Ambedkar Stadium, and is open to all participants from the Delhi NCR area under 13 years of age. The participants will be given a chance to showcase their talents under the guidance of the DDFC technical team. Talented children will be shortlisted to participate in the Reliance Foundation Young Champs training camp and the most promising candidates will get a multi-year scholarship from Reliance Foundation Young Champs. The club hopes to find the next ‘Face of Indian Football’ from Delhi.

In a first for Delhi and indeed the country, Indian Super League has come together with a team, the Delhi Dynamos FC, to hold these exciting open football trials in the city.

The Delhi Dynamos FC urges all parents and children in the age group of 10-13 years, to come and be a part of this first ever DDFC open trial & the ISL selection festival. This is first of the many initiatives that DDFC will roll out this year.

Program Details:

Step 1:  DDFC Open Trials (11th April 2015, 9 AM)
Open trial hosted by Delhi Dynamos FC for all born between 2002-2004
Walk in registrations
Around 200 young footballers have the chance to get selected for the ISL Selection Festival

Step 2:  ISL Grassroots Festival (16th April 2015, 9 am)
Trials for the selected 200 footballers by ISL
Around 20 of the top players will be selected for ISL Training camp in Mumbai

Step 3: ISL Training Camp in Mumbai (May 2015)
1 week training program conducted by ISL coaches and talent scouts.
Travel, food and acoommodation to be undertaken by ISL
Shortlisted Talents will get to be a part of a 3 year fully funded residential school scholarship

Step 4: Reliance Foundation Young Champs Programme (June 2015)
Includes football training, education, nutrition, injury management etc
The scholarship aims at providing the best possible platform to nurture Indian talent

Details of Open Trials
Date – 11th April 2015
Reporting time – 9 AM
Venue – Ambedkar Stadium
Age Group – Born between 2002-2004
Date of Birth Proof –  Birth Cerificate or Passport (1 original and 1 photocopy)
Person to contact – Srinjoy Mukhopadhyay-9818094691

For more information on the ISL Grassroots Program & the Reliance Foundation Young Champs Programme please refer to the following:

ISL Grassroots Festival  

Each ISL Club will conduct a selection festival in the month of April 2015. At this festival, the ISL Clubs along with centrally appointed coaches, will select the best 20 talents from a pool of 200. These 20 will be invited to the ISL training camp in May.

The ISL training camp in May will be a week long camp for 200-220 children with 100-110 children attending in the first week and the remaining attending in the second week. These children will be trained by centrally appointed coaches and centrally appointed talent scouts will identify and pick the best 24-25 children from this set of 200. This final set of 24-25 will be offered a Reliance Foundation Young Champs scholarship as described below.

Reliance Foundation Young Champs Programme

The Reliance Foundation Young Champs programme is a multi-year football scholarship for the 24-25 most talented children identified through the ISL grassroots programme. The scholarship, commencing June 2015, will include football training, education, nutrition, injury management etc. and is directed towards providing the best possible platform for Indian talent to grow and emerge on the international stage. This will be a year round program that will run till children complete at least class X and possibly class XII.