TFM: Footy Chats: Henry Menezes

TFM: Footy Chats: Henry Menezes

A brighter note for Indian football, the Western India Football Association’s (WIFA) Maharashtra Grassroots initiatives have been awarded the Best Grassroots program for 2014 by All India Football Federation and FICCI at the Goal 2015 India Football Summit, 3rd International Convention on Football Business.

On this occasion, TFM spoke to Henry Menezes, CEO of WIFA and also previously a goalkeeper for the Indian football team. He spoke about the current state of football and how there is a lot of scope for improvement in the administrative as well the infrastructural aspect of Indian Football.

Can you tell us about the Grassroots development Program?

After the success of the grassroots program in Mizoram, We decided to analyze the state level football for Maharashtra. We found out after touring the whole state that there were hardly any coaches per district, let alone licensed coaches. We Started with about 700-800 people all over Maharashtra and gradually started reaching out to the more remote areas like Marathwada.

Maharashtra has a population of about 120 million people. As compared to Mizoram which was only 1 million. There were only 50 licensed coaches for a population for 120 million. There was a need for a herculean effort to bring about the same changes that we brought in Mizoram to a massive state like Maharashtra.

We tied up with the AIFF and with the help of the AIFF, we were able to start training coaches and grassroot leaders in a specialized setting. Many do not understand that for a child, the coach represents a role model, some one that they can look up to.

Along with the concepts of football, we also trained them with personality development so that they can be influential in the child's development not only as a footballer but also as a person.

Our program turned out o be highly efficient as we divided Maharashtra in 6 regions, Konkan, Vidarbha, Marathwada, Khandesh, Pune and Northern Maharashtra. With this approach we were able to cover all the 34 districts across the state and monitor all activities with ease.

Have you come close with what you had envisioned for Maharashtra as far as football is concerned when you started this program? And what would your plan of action for the future be?

I wouldn't say that the expectations that we had when we started it are fulfilled, but comparing it with the Mizoram Program, There has been a marked improvement in the response by the youngsters, owing to the popularity. We have been able to cover each and every district of Maharashtra. Each district has atleast 2-3 grassroot leaders or trained coaches for children between the age group of 9-17. We also have a tie up with the Education ministry where in we would want to introduce a rather organized structure of coaching youngsters. We not only want them to be better players but also want them to be better human beings. This program will also cater to the social issues like hygiene, gender equality and most importantly we would want football to be a culture rather than it being just a sport.

Conducting Grassroots leagues which is football with a different format will be WIFA’s next goal. These leagues are conducted in a completely different way where winning and losing doesn’t count. Points are awarded on the skill level of players, style of play, understanding of rules and regulations of the game and fair-play will the criteria to progress in the league. Every player will be judged by his conduct on and off the field.

Maharashtra has 14 AFC ‘D’ License instructors, 55 grassroots leaders and about 1000 AFC ‘D’ License coaches and I’m sure all of us will work towards WIFA’s mission to make Maharashtra a fully football literate State.

We also have planned a Football Festival wherein we have 5-a-side tournaments. These again won't have the conventional goal-based marking system. We will analyze each player's conduct on and off the field, It will not matter how many goals a team has scored, but how the team has scored. Every individual will be judged on how he/she conducts themselves on the field and this competition will be open for all.

The point behind this being that parents should get more involved in encouraging the child to take up football as a career rather than just a physical activity along with the coach's skill to aggrandizing that talent to a professional level.

With these initiatives the WIFA aims to make football a cultural aspect of our lives similar to how cricket is a household sport in India.

the second part of this interview series, Henry gives us insights about his career as a player and how the times have changed for Indian Football.

STAY TUNED!