In this blog we are going to discuss about youth development pathway in Indian Football and its different aspects. Youth development is a long process. Hard work, dedication, Discipline, sacrifices and determination are the main aspects of youth development. Every Player, Parent, Coach has equally important role in this process of youth development. Becoming a professional football player is not an easy task, you need to work in the right pathway for it. In this process you need to keep patience for better development. This process includes not only good training but also personal and professional growth of players. Players, Parents, Coaches, Academies are the four strong pillars and base of youth development process. Youth development is nurturing the players for better and bright future of Indian Football.

Role of Player

Now a days every kid wants to be a professional football player, but they don’t know the pathway to work towards it. Self-discipline is the basic value of the kid’s development, if you don’t have that or if you don’t work on that then you cannot achieve your goal and fulfill your dreams. Consistency of discipline, hard work and dedication is what every kid should focus on to become a professional player.

Players should always have their role model to whom they can look up and get motivated and work effectively towards their pathway. Technical, Tactical, Physical, Mental & Social aspects of the game play important role in player’s development and they should include all these aspects in their training sessions. Whenever and wherever you do training or play matches always give your best, because you never know when you will get noticed by scouts, coach or any person who can offer you an opportunity. Even if you are going for any trials you should go with the positive attitude and for that positivity you need to prepare yourself well before attempting trials, if you do this then chances of getting selected will be higher.

Studies also play an important role in youth development, every kid should always keep his education at priority, because it gives him / her decision-making strength and helps to grow personal wellbeing. Players need to Balance study and sports both.

Influential people in different age groups for development of player are listed below. This table shows this is how kids get influenced in a particular age.

Age	Influencers
U 10	1. Parents 2. Teachers 3. Coaches
10 between 14	1. Parents 2. Coaches 3. Friends 4. Teachers
14 between 18	1. Coaches 2. Friends 3. Parents

Another important aspect of player’s life is, he / she should always analyze himself / herself on his own, and try to be better than yesterday. They should also concentrate on and analyze the matches they are playing because "The Game itself is a best teacher".

Role of Parent

Parent is one of the base pillars and first influencer in their kid’s development process. It is not just about enrolling your kid in good and famous academy; parents should have proper information about the academy and their coaches.

Always interact with coaches and know what are the areas their kid have to work on. Awareness about academies is important for parents, if they can search for good school then they can also search for good academies where their kid can get good training. Kids spend most of their time with their parents more than their coaches, that’s why parents have to take care of the diet, training and daily routine of their kid. Parents sacrifices also count in player development process; they should encourage & support their kid to pursue their passion. Parent has to trust the coach and leave coaching part to coaches and should not instruct their kid anything during practice & match.

Role of Coaches

Coach plays different roles in development process of players. He / she can be player’s role model, friend, motivator, teacher, counselor, etc. Every coach should have proper coaching knowledge and updated certifications to work in youth development. Coach needs to be demanding all the time which can help him to take out the best performance from players. He / she should focus more on development process than getting results in the matches.

Knowledge of youth development process is mandatory for all coaches and they should work passionately and honestly towards it. For better players we need better coaches and for better coaches we need better coach education. That’s why coach should always upgrade their knowledge by attending different webinars, seminars and coach certification courses. AIFF coach education is doing great job by providing better coaching education in India, which is helping all aspiring coaches to upgrade their knowledge to work in development process.

Coaches also face numerous challenges in youth development process. To overcome these challenges, coaching upgradation is very important. Coach needs to concentrate on professional development as well as holistic development of the player, he / she is the only person who knows his / her player better than everyone else.

Every coach should follow age-appropriate training format e.g.

• U13 - more on technical aspect,
• U15 - technical and more focus on tactical aspect,
• Above 15 - it should be technical, tactical, physical and mental aspect of the player.

But Technical training sessions are mandatory for all age groups and that too every day. Whether it’s a practice match or league or tournament coach should give fair chances of playing to every player and let them experience match pressure, so player can also identify his / her abilities. Honesty and not being biased, giving true feedback to the kids and their parents these are the most important qualities every coach should have for youth development.

Role of Academies

Every academy must have their own vision, mission, philosophy and pathway to help aspiring players become a professional football player.

Academies should provide good infrastructure, facilities and most importantly good coaching to their players. For good coaching they should have well versed coaches with all the updated certification and knowledge. This can help academy to produce more talented players from their academy.

Academies need keep balance between commercial and development aspects. Academies should establish a sustainable system to support and encourage their coach development. With this, coaches can improve and perform to the best of their potential and are able to maximize the potential of the players they work with. Internal and external relationship of academy plays most important role in youth development pathway.