TFA conducts talent hunt in Kalinganagar

Kalinganagar, Orissa:

In a bid to spread goodwill as well as to spot young football talents, Tata Steel has involved the Tata Football Academy in a talent hunt cum coaching camp in Kalinganagar industrial belt in Orissa.

The area has been in news for the ongoing agitation by local tribals against the Tata Steel project there.

For six days as many as 170 young local players learnt the art and craft of top-grade football under the watchful eyes of former India captain Carlton Chapman and coaches from the Tata Football Academy.

The effort was to fine-tune the raw local talent and also to spot those who deserve higher training at the TFA.

TFA has been playing a key role in developing football talent in the country since it was set up by Tata Steel in 1987. Today there are as many as 16 TFA-trained players in the national team.

Although the Academy has been promoting football talent in Orissa for the last three years through coaching camps, this is the first time they've organised such an initiative in a rural-tribal belt.

Tata Steel says the exercise was part of their commitment to improve the lives of the people in their project areas.

The six-day camp finished on Sunday and although it was too brief a period to appreciably hone raw talent, it has definitely offered young players in this football crazy belt in Orissa the opportunity to dream big.