Bhaichung kids to play with Borussia Dortmund

NEW DELHI, May 29, 2013

Come June, Bhaichung kids will lock horns with foreign footballers. Students of Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools (BBFS) are now rigorously trained for the forthcoming unique opportunity to play a football match against the youth team of Champions League Runners-up Borussia Dortmund when they head for a tournament in Holland early next month.

The BBFS Development Squads comprised of three age-groups –  U11, U13 and U15 –  will participate in elite international tournaments in the Netherlands where they will compete against professional football clubs likeBorussia Dortmund (a German sports club based in Dortmund founded in December 19, 1909), Feyenoord Rotterdam (a professional football club from Rotterdam founded in July 19, 1908), Fulham (one of the oldest football clubs in London founded in August 16, 1879), PSV Eindhoven (one of the famous sports club from Eindhoven founded in August 31, 1919), Fortuna Dusseldorf (a German football club based in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia founded in May 5, 1895) and Sparta Prague (a Czech football club based in Prague founded in November 16, 1893). BBFS Squads will lock horns with these teams on June 1 and June 2. BBFS Squads consist of the best players selected from its BBFS centres -Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Greater Noida, Mumbai, Chandigarh and Jammu.

“From June 3-8, BBFS players will undergo one-week intensive training camp at the renowned Feyenoord Rotterdam Academy, which has been awarded the Best Youth Academy in the Netherlands for the last three years in a row. The most famous product of the Feyenoord Academy is a Dutch footballer and a Manchester United striker –  Robin van Persie – who recently won the Best Player Award in the English Premier League,” said Ankit Arora, Head Strategy & Marketing, BBFS, Delhi.

“Both the tournament and the camp are expected to give our best players a unique opportunity to learn with the best in the world. Such exposure is rare for players in India and we are glad that through BBFS we can provide something to talented Indian kids that I never got when I was growing up. It is our endeavour to ensure that exceptional talent gets the best learning opportunities, and we are funding seven scholars from less fortunate financial backgrounds for this tournament and camp, who I believe have the potential to be stars for India in the future,” Bhaichung Bhutia, Founder and Managing Director, said.

“Our players have been trained for over a month now. We have practiced regularly here in IIT Delhi and Laxman Public School, Green Park on every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday evenings,” Arora added.

The BBFS Squads has been practicing regularly under the guidance of Resident head coach and UEFA B licensed coach, Jose Tavres, an ex. Portuguese international footballer. The average fee charged per head is Rs 2000 – Rs 3000. BBFS head office is located in New Delhi and also has its centre across seven cities at present.

According to sources, BBFS is said to be the first football academy in India to implement the small-sided games methodology which is the most proven and widely-used football training system in the world today. BBFS promises a truly world class coaching experience with exposure to state-of-the-art training methodologies under the guidance of senior coaches from Portugal.

Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools has been started by former Indian football team captain Bhaichung Bhutia along with two IITians, Anurag Khilnani and Kishore Taid in October 28, 2011. BBFS aims to bring world-class football training at the grassroot levels in India and have been a pioneer in India in terms of implementing a game-based training methodology across its centres.

BBFS currently caters to children in the age group of 5 to 15 years, the formative period for any good sportsperson. The Indian football icon Bhutia is also the co-owner of Gangtok-based United Sikkim Football Club.