A delegation of three sports scientists from the university would visit the academy for an audit and provide the coaches and players technical know-how from April 17 to 26, club president Gurmangal Dass said.

The club, the brian-child of NRI Jasvir Singh Sandhu, a real estate businessman and associate director, Coventry City Football Club, has not only made soccer popular among rural youth, but is also acting as a nursery for players of the Indian team.

This would make football popular in the state at the grassroots level, Dass said, revealing that after the visit, the university would sign an MoU with the club.

Besides Anwar Ali, the All India Football Federation had selected Jatinder Singh of the club for the Indian under-16 team, Dass added.

To impart professional training to the members of the club, two football coaches from Canada have been engaged to sharpen the skills of the budding players.

The coaches are imparting football techniques to around 200 budding players of below 12, 14 & 16.

“Soccer is a game of stamina and power, and the confidence of our players will be high after training,” Dass said, adding that it was a matter of pride that the foreign coaches would specially come to train the budding players.

He still remembers running barefoot in his village, chasing the only football the kids there had at their disposal and kicking it till it went away, far enough to be chased again. Nothing mattered, be it the heat, cold or rain. Life was at its best when Anwar had a football at his feet.

Today, as the boy who started from YFC Rurka Kalan, has become the highest-paid player in Indian club football history, it seems like a just reward for all sacrifices he made. Anwar has been signed up by Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan for a whopping Rs. 95 lakh. He had earlier become the highest paid defender when he had moved from JCT to Dempo two seasons ago.

The contract at Mohun Bagan is initially for the four months left of the current season, which will see him pocket a handsome Rs. 25 lakh. Then, from May 2011, he will be paid Rs. 70 lakh for the next 12 months. This is unknown territory in terms of money for Indian football, where generally strikers have dominated the numbers.

“It feels great that people believe in me. That they like what I can do on the football field,” Anwar says. “But my game is not dictated by money. Neither is the decision of where I play. I was perfectly happy at Dempo. Everyone knows how the Goans love their football, and so it was a great experience.

“But you see, in India, if you haven’t played in Kolkata, then the rest of it doesn’t matter. This is the BIG one. The chance to play for the oldest club and be a part of a legacy. I just hope I can justify it,” Anwar says with the anticipation of playing with one of the biggest clubs in India lighting up his eyes.

Anwar was also part of the Indian side that played in the recently-concluded Asian Cup in Qatar and the experience of playing against Australia and South Korea was memorable for Anwar. “It was fantastic, just an incredible experience. The likes of Tim Cahill, Harry Kewell and Lucas Neil show you how the world views the game. The facilities, infrastructure, the support that these guys get, all of it is just fascinating. It was also a good opportunity for us to learn more about how we have evolved our game.

“But now I hear reports about a new coach floating around. I really hope they are not true. Wherever the team is today, it is because Bob (coach Bob Houghton) has put in everything in this team. He has made us believe that we can compete at the highest level and that we can do well. Indian football needs him,” adds Anwar

Fast forward to 2010, and Rurka Kalan has become the face of hope, change and passion for soccer in rural India. Youth Football Club (FYC) has brought many laurels to the area and state, including the Street Child World Cup win in South Africa. And it is in these promising times that Parmar is back in the village to add another twist to the tale. He, alongwith YFC president Gurmangal Das, have laid down a plan to come out with a DVD that will provide coaches with creative training sessions and cover the concepts of a proper dynamic warm-up through a number of creative drills. It will also cover technical development through game-specific drills and game intelligence through various small-sided games.

The DVD will be provided in Punjabi as well, which will help the coaches to understand the key concepts and coaching points of each drill and exercise. The DVD will be distributed free of cost to all youth coaches in Punjab and to any coaches in the country who are interested in gaining coaching insight.

Speaking about the project, Parmar said: “I’m excited to be a part of this project that YFC has envisioned. I believe we will be able to provide the coaches a good platform for providing their players with the required age specific skills to achieve success in the upcoming years. Our goal over the next year or so is to develop a second edition of this DVD so that the coaches will have 50 session plans in total.”

“The YFC project is becoming well known across the globe and is receiving amazing recognition from the Punjabi community worldwide. I am honoured to have a small part of this beautiful project, but the people who deserve the real credit are the volunteers and coaches in the community of Rurka Kalan who are providing the children with an opportunity to be successful in the real world.”

It is good to see that someone is finally waking up to the idea that the body, mind and ability of a child is different from an adult. Talent knows no age, but if not nurtured in the right way, it knows no direction as well.

Originally from Scotland, coach Craig Smith presently residing in Canada, and Sanjeev Parmar, born & brought up in Vancouver, were daily spending six hours to impart soccer techniques to over 200 budding footballers of various age groups at Rurka Kalan village.

The delegation spent two days at Rurka Kalan . They visited all the club projects and interacted with the kids of the Academy. Harriet expressed, ‘to see these kids at YFC has been an emotional experience, the club is doing great missionary work by providing theses kids world class facilities and avenues to grow’. Polly Grant was impressed with the level of participation and enthusiasm of the kids.She said that ‘I am humbled by the whole experience’.

The club President Mr Gurmangal Das gave a note of thanks to the delegation and was honored by the club.

In a decent function, Mr. Avinash Rai Khanna, Member Parliament dedicated the bus to the players of the Academy. He lauded the efforts of YFC and announced a grant of Rs 2 Lacs for extension of the hostel facilities. Mr Gurmangal Das thanked all the dignataries and donors for their contribution.

He was honored and thankful to the  District Administration and the Sports Department of Punjab to have given him this honour.