Festival competition begins Saturday

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

LALITPUR: All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) is geared up to host the competition for junior footballers from South zone during the AFC U-14 Boys Festival of Football here from Saturday.

The Festival has entered the second week after its opening on May 10 with the ‘C’ Certificate Coaching Course for the participating nations Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bhutan. Apart from ‘C’ Certificate Course, Head Coaches’ Workshop, Preparatory Course for Referee, Football Medicine Course for physiotherapist and S2S (secret to soccer) course, which is aimed at enhancing basic knowledge on football-related computer classes, are already underway.

The football competition itself offers opportunities to all those participating young coaches, referees, head coaches and physiotherapist to implement the knowledge and ideas gained from the courses they undergo during the Festival.

AFC vice-president and ANFA president Ganesh Thapa said the Festival was a great opportunity for his association to nurture new talents, especially referees and coaches. “We have been granted the rights to host the event for two consecutive years but we are looking to make it four times in a row,” said Thapa saying that the Festival will help develop better technical manpower to his association.

“We have invested heavily in the construction of well equipped and well furnished hostel at the ANFA Complex specifically targeting the Festival,” informed Thapa.

AFC Head of Youth Football John Whittle said that the Festival of Football emphasises the AFC’s commitment to educational process. “AFC sees huge improvement in referees, coaches and physios since the commencement of the project in 2004,” said Whittle. “The Festival is a huge opportunity for referees, coaches and physiotherapist to development themselves and football in general,” added Whittle.