MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
September 2021
Coach's Note Sandro Salami Head of Youth
Greetings, parents and guardians! A short one from me this month, as our season is well and truly underway. The month of September is usually busy, with the school season picking up and the football calendar getting busy as well. All our pre-season tests have been completed, and training has begun in full swing! On the scouting front, our Head Scout Steve has been busy travelling everywhere, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, looking for our new talent. With only a few regions remaining, it shouldn't be long before we have our next batch of Young Champs. A huge matter of pride for us all at RFYC has been the stellar performances from our first batch of graduates. Muhammed Nemil, Koustav Dutta, and Huidrom Thoi Singh have already started shining and scoring for FC Goa, Hyderabad FC, and Bengaluru FC respectively in the Durand Cup, Asia's oldest cup competition, and all the staff are really proud to see our boys thriving at the biggest stage! These players also serve as role models for our current batch of academy players, who can see the progress their seniors have made and aim to emulate them and play in the upper echelons of Indian Football!
Counsellor's Note Padma Rewari Head of Child Welfare and Education
Dear parents and guardians, As we close the chapter on another month, I look back on the past four weeks, and can only think of one word to sum up our September. Gratitude. We are fortunate to be under the care of Reliance Foundation and all the steps they have taken to ensure the safety and security of the boys and the staff. We are grateful to our excellent staff, right from the coaches to the scouts, to the housekeeping staff who work tirelessly to ensure our boys are well looked after. We are thankful for all the parents who decided to trust us with the development of their children, and for their continued support. And we are extremely grateful to have been blessed with such bright and brilliant young boys who make all the effort worth it! But gratitude is often a two way street. And our boys got together to express their gratitude for their coaches on Teacher's Day! In a special treat for all staff members, a few boys put on a special show for all their coaches and really made the day special! But this month has also been about preparation. Come October, the boys will commence their exams, with schedules coming through slowly. We have ramped up preparation for the semester exams, and are on course to see all the boys ready by the time the exams come around!
RFYC Fitness Week Over lockdown, when everyone was stuck at home, our coaches and staff were busy trying to keep the boys engaged. One big concern for all involved was the loss of physical fitness of all the players. That is when the performance department came up with an idea that would not only engage the players in a meaningful way, but also ensure they have fun, and learn while they're at it! Presenting: the RFYC Fitness Week Challenge! The boys were divided into 10 teams of 7 players each (1 from each age group), and were given a host of exercises to do, but with a few creative changes! The players were tasked with
completing all the exercises, but stood to earn extra points for timely submissions and creativity. What was overall a fun exercise was meant to also keep the boys active, keep their strength up, and most importantly, their spirits high!
Final teams as decided by coaches
Eventually, though, there can be only one winner. And after evaluating all the submissions from all teams, the winner was team 7 Unknown Idiots! This team, comprised of Ranit Sarkar (U18), Silajit Santra (U16), F Vanlalchanchuaha (U15), Changesh Sivaraman (U14), Alwinson Bareh (U15), Aniket Ghosh (U16), and Felixson Fernandes (U18) blew the judges away and claimed first place.
Speaking on the competition, coach Durva Vahia said, "This competition was aimed at breaking up the usual routine for the boys during lockdown, and give them something different to sink their teeth into." "What started out as a fun task for the boys, ended up being a challenge for us! All the teams really showed up and put their best foot forward, making it extremely difficult for us to pick a winner!" said coach Aniket Shetty.
The winners won an official club jersey of the football teams they support!
L-R: Ranit Sarkar, Silajit Santra, F Vanlalchanchuaha, Changesh Sivaraman, Alwinson Bareh, Aniket Ghosh, and Felixson Fernandes
Spotlight Mikhil Patil U- 17 Midfielder
Tell us a little about yourself.
My name is Mikhil, and I play as a midfielder for Reliance Foundation Young Champs! I am from Navi Mumbai, and have spent all my life in this city. I joined RFYC in the first batch of 2015–16. Football has been my passion since I was a child and my goal is to play professional football and reach the highest level I can.
Who is your football idol? My football Idol is N'Golo Kante. Like me, he also plays midfield and I love to observe and learn from his game. What I most admire about N'Golo Kante is his ability to win balls cleanly in the midfield and his commitment towards giving his 100% in every game to help his team. His humility on and off the pitch is also something that I admire a lot about him and hope to emulate in my career.
This season I am looking forward to developing myself in all aspects inside and outside the game and giving myself the best platform to really push on and get ready to take that big step in my career
Nemil has been making waves at FC Goa. How has it impacted you, to see one of your seniors playing at the top level in India? It is very heartening to see a player I played with and against in training performing so well at the professional level. It provides an extra boost of confidence and drive to develop and take the next step in my journey to becoming a professional player.
Spotlight
Durva Vahia Head of Performance
Tell us a little about yourself. Hi, I am Durva Vahia, and I'm the head of the Performance department at RFYC! I’ve been a former player with the Indian women’s reserve team, Exeter City, LFC, and New York Institute of Technology. I’ve coached the Indian women’s youth teams and been a sports scientist at Exeter City Academy. After completing my masters, I joined RFYC in 2018 as a sports scientist and I’m currently heading the Performance department here. How did you get into the field of Sport Science?
Persistent curiosity. My father is an astrophysicist, so I grew up with science being dinner time conversations. Curiosity became a default. I then started playing football at about 12 years old and really fell in love with the sport. I always wanted to know more, wanted to understand more and was bursting with questions about football. I then went into coaching for a bit, trying to answer the million questions I had about football and sports.
The science nerd in me was never satisfied and still needed answers! Sports science brought these two worlds together and was the perfect blend of my two favourite fields. I took a chance and decided to do my Masters at the University of Exeter. I specialised in youth football and was fortunate to have my research published and presented at an international conference. The conference was a turning point.
Curiosity became a default
The people and conversations were all extremely stimulating and it was exciting to see a world I didn’t know existed. I realised that this is something that India doesn’t have and was excited to put to work all that I had learnt. Luckily for me, RFYC shared the same passion and vision. RFYC has the desire to create the best possible culture and environment for the players to develop. Using sports science we are now able to be intentional, individualised and holistic in our approach to training and developing the players.
What does a typical day at the Academy look like for you?
In one word: Hectic!
6:30am- gym session
9:30am - staff meeting
10:30am - department meeting 12:30 pm - jump test for recovery metrics 3:30- leave for training 4-5:30 - batch 1 training 5:15- 7- batch 2 training
7:30-8:30 dinner with the boys
9pm - dinner for me (and play time with my cat)
Rinse and repeat
Phew! 🙃
Using sports science we are now able to be intentional, individualised, and holistic in our approach to training and developing players.
What advice would you give anyone looking to get into your field? Be infinitely curious! Ask questions, seek answers, look at the context and take a holistic approach. There is no one right answer, no one right method of training and there’s so many pieces to the puzzle. Be open to seeing the whole picture and always do what’s best for the player, even if it’s not best for you.
We'd love to hear from you. Please write to us at contact@rfyounchamps.org