Deeksha Sports Management and Soccerkix Vision in India

New Delhi, India - Since there is not much to offer youth soccer players here in India, Deeksha Sports Management (DSM), a group of professionals engaged in promoting sports events, organized the first ever Italian Soccer Clinic this past September to help popularize the game of football.

In cooperation with Soccerkix, Italian Premier Soccer School, one of the most respected Italian Soccer Program in the world, DSM had the chance to bring its Director, Mr. Antonio Saviano to New Delhi to work with youth soccer students and youth soccer coaches in an effort to expend the knowledge of the beautiful game.

“If Mr. Chitaverdi would have asked me to come and work only with players I would simply told him I was not interested. But when he asked me to come and also work with coaches then I was very interested” said Mr. Antonio Saviano, Soccerkix Director. He went on to say: “I believe working with coaches is just as important as they can pass on the information to the players every time they train.”

India’s situation is like that of US 15-20 years ago. It started from juts children interested in playing the sport, competing with other popular sports such as baseball, basketball, etc. Today the US is one of the top international power on the women’s national side and the men’s national team has been ranked in top 10 many times in the FIFA Rankings.

The cooperation between DSM and Soccerkix was an effort to include interaction between professional coaches and youth soccer students as well as youth coaches of schools in and around Delhi, through classroom and practical presentations. A youth development program is already in place and it just needs to be tweaked to adapt the development methodology to the children in India.

Despite this was a short visit for a great exposure, the goal was to expose the children to a different type of player development system. A system that is geared to having FUN and build the important soccer skills in order to advance to the next level. Free training opportunities were given to over 500 children between the age of 5 – 16.

Mr. Hemanshu Chitaverdi, President of DSM said: “We have had wonderful response from players as well as coaches and we are looking forward for a long relationship”.

"I have noticed many children playing soccer but what I have noticed is that there is not a development program in place at the youth level and no coaching education and therefore these are the simple reasons why India many not be advanced as they should be” said Mr. Saviano. “I believe with the help of people like Mr. Hemanshu it will slowly change”.

The vision of DSM is to provide best of training and knowledge to upcoming soccer players in India. The vision is to offer the best player development program, therefore the use of the Soccerkix, Italian Premier Soccer School’s Development methodologies to influence positive technical social growth of players.

Soccerkix offers players around the world the opportunity to attend All-Year Soccer Boarding School and professional try-outs with some of the best Italian Soccer Clubs.

Mr. Saviano said: “If the children have the passion but there are no qualified coaches then there is a problem. If we can help coaches understand how to develop youth soccer players from an early age then you will definitely see talent come out from everywhere”.

Mr. Antonio visits included schools in Delhi & NCR like; Bal Bharti- Pitampura, Tagore Public School- East of Kailash, JBM Global School- Noida etc.

ROMA STADIUM PLANS UNVEILED

(ANSA) - Rome, September 29 - AS Roma on Tuesday unveiled plans to build a new stadium on the outskirts of the Italian capital.

Roma President Rosella Sensi said the idea of the club having its own stadium, instead of renting one from the city council, had ``always been at the centre`` of her late father Franco`s plans, as well as those of another historic club president, Dino Viola.

The 55,000-seater stadium, billed as family friendly and eco-advanced, is expected to be called after Franco Sensi.

Coach Claudio Ranieri said he liked the idea that the so-called `technical area`, where coaches sit, would be inset into the terraces like at Premier League grounds such as Chelsea`s, where he coached for two years. ``You feel like you`re together, a part of the crowd,``he said.

Roma skipper Francesco Totti, who is about to sign a three-year contract extension, said he ``hoped`` to see the new ground finished. ``It looks beautiful. I`d like to tread the turf of such a stadium,`` said the 35-year-old club icon. ``It will be tough for me to play long enough. I hope they get it built fast, he said.

Daniele De Rossi, widely touted to take over Totti`s mantle, said upon seeing the plans: ``You`ll be able to feel the fans living the game with you. Just imagine what it`ll be like having 60,000 Roma fans around you, so close``.

One of the longstanding gripes about Roma`s present home, the 1960 Olympic Stadium, is that the stands are too far back from the pitch to allow fans to make a full connection with the players.

No firm completion date has been set for the ground, which is yet to get full planning approval. The architect, Gino Zavanella, said it would be the first
``eco-sustainable`` stadium, with solar panels and a non-degradable and non-polluting titanium-zinc structure. ``It will be naturally ventilated and the turf will be irradiated,`` he added. Stressing that the stadium will be able to be evacuated ``in five minutes,`` Zavanella said it would have ``spaces set aside for families, children in particular...as well as a museum on the club`s history``.
``This stadium will be alive, on the inside and the outside, and it will continue to provide services to people all week``.

According to media reports the ground will be surrounded by a huge leisure and residential complex including a mall,cinemas, restaurants, bars, a swimming pool and perhaps also a new hotel.

Roma hopes its future home, backed by City Mayor Gianni Alemanno, will generate income comparable with that of the big Premier League or Liga clubs where a family atmosphere has kept hooligans at bay and a range of shops and other facilities have generated income for the transfer market. Mayor Alemanno insisted ``the ground is the club`s right``. He said initial reports from planning agencies had been``positive``.

Roma Administrative Director Cristina Mazzoleni said the club had not yet put a final price tag on the project. She cited construction experts as saying the ground would take ``24-26 months to build, once started``. ``We will try to involve local firms as much as possible,`` Mazzoleni added.

The other Roman club, SS Lazio, is also trying to get away from the Olimpico, which it rents along with Roma, and build its own ground on the other side of the city. But both projects still have to approved. ``If the culture ministry doesn`t say Ok they won`t go ahead,`` Culture Undersecretary Franco Giro said at the
presentation at Rome`s training camp. Giro said he ``knew nothing`` about reports that a Roman villa and necropolis had been unearthed during preliminary digs at the site opposite the Ancient Roman Via Aurelia about 10km from the city centre.

So far the only Italian soccer club to start work on a stadium it will own, rather than rent, is Juventus. Packed with amenities, the 105-million-euro stadium,
already rising from the ashes of the old Delle Alpi ground, is scheduled to open in northern Turin in 2011.

Mourinho Talking Again, But for How Long?

by Gareth Freeman - Inter Milan manager Jose Mourinho has always had a bit of a reputation as an outspoken type of fellow but that looked like it had all changed when he imposed a ‘media blackout’ last weekend.

The former Porto and Chelsea boss decided to snub the press after he was sent to the stands during Inter’s win over Cagliari last weekend.

However, due to the club’s contractual obligations with the media Inter have told Mourinho he has to speak to the press so the Portuguese tactician has no other option – and he isn’t happy about it.

Speaking to Sky Italia Mourinho said: “I’m not continuing the silence because the club asked me because of contracts with you,

“If it were up to me the silence would continue.”

The Nerazzurri slipped to a disappointing defeat at the hands of Sampdoria at the weekend and Mourinho was in no mood to discuss his tactics with the the press. When asked why he decided to substitute Mario Balotelli he replied: “I’m the coach, and don’t have to explain my decisions to you.”

It is not the first, or probably last, time the special one will fall out with the Italian press. At the start of the season he told reporters ‘if something happens to me it is your fault’ when Islamic extremists issued death threats against him for his reported decision not to play Sulley Muntari who was fasting during Ramadan.

His decision not to talk to the press was a disappointing one, after all his quotes are at times priceless. On the state of the Stamford Bridge pitch in his time at Chelsea he once said:


“Sometimes you see beautiful people with no brains. Sometimes you have ugly people who are intelligent, like scientists.”

What does that even mean? I’ve got no idea but it is brilliant anyway and one of the reasons why, love him or hate him, no one can deny Mourinho is not entertaining.

It would seem for now that Mourinho has no choice but to speak to the media if Inter have forced him. The question is will he opt to move on because of it? The press in Italy are known for grilling the manager on tactics and team selections and it seems this is what Mourinho has a problem with, if he can’t learn to deal with it he may chose to leave.

Written by Gareth Freeman for Seria Talk (http://www.serieatalk.com/)

Single Player Issue

The following article was written by Antonio Saviano and featured in the Scuola Calcio Magazine.

I have been giving some thought about the “single player” issue on a soccer team, which leads me to wonder how many coaches find themselves in the same situation, having one good player on the team?.

I often notice, while I conduct a coaching symposium and when speaking with coaches, that I hear about how most teams have only one good player, or the teams have only one player who tries very hard compared to the other players, or the team has only one player with a good attitude.

One time, just out of curiosity I took this problem and asked a question of the parents. “Are there any ‘special’ players on this team”? The following information was interesting to me and I am sure it will be interesting to all of you also. I could speak with five or six different parents from the same team and in each case there is always one "special" player. And not very surprisingly to me, that “special” player is always the son or daughter of the parent.

While I believe it is a parent’s right to think that their child is special, the fact is that coaches sometimes never stop hearing about how good their child is. This is not all, it can also go on to the next step which now is to hear that there are some players do not play the way they should, but are the coach’s favorites. So I tell my self: “It is just not enough to speak well about their own children but also speak ill of other players”.

Parents have to come to the realization that the team can not be successful unless two golden rules are mandatory on the team:

1. Parents support each other
2. Players support each other

On a related note, players have to participate on a team in which the two rules above are part of the team’s spirit. To be a top soccer player, a player must make all of the other players around him or her feel supported and always give positive feedbacks. And what is true for the players goes for the parents as well as for the coach.

Players can use different ways to help their teammates become better soccer players, and coaches can develop players through a variety of training methods. But one of the first things that must be done by the coach is to educate parents on how important it is to encourage youth players and give them positive feedbacks.

While I agree that it is important to allow parents to approach the coach and ask questions concerning issues such as playing time, I am not so much into an agreement when the conversation turns direction and concerns the quality of different players on the team. Then it becomes unacceptable for me.

This draft was featured in the Scuola Calcio Magazine. To get more information please click here!

Scuola Calcio Coaching Magazine is aimed and dedicated to providing first class soccer information for instructors at all levels throughout the North America and the World.

Instructor’s Responsibilities and Duties

Soccer programs should be offered to youth players of all ages, with the emphasis on fun, fitness, and skill building in an environment in which winning is not the sole focus.

Every child must have the opportunity to participate in every game.
An instructor should be able to define the needs of his youth players. The growth process should emphasize the development of sound skills that can be enjoyed. Players should experience fun and enjoyment every time they come to the soccer field. The instructors should also be able to adapt to each player’s personality, talk to them in a positive manner, lead by example and teach the players to conduct themselves in a controlled manner on the field.

Players need the opportunity to play their own game. Therefore as instructors, we should limit sideline coaching. Teaching should be done at practice rather in games.

Developing a strong sense of self-esteem is as fundamental as a solid technical foundation. It is of great importance that instructors provide an atmosphere of a strong team where players can develop a love of the game as well as environment where players can respect each other.

If we can step back and say to ourselves that our players are developing respect, trust, confidence and a desire to remain actively involved in soccer, then we can honestly say we are doing our job!!!

This article was featured in the Scuola Calcio Magazine - The article was written by Antonio Saviano.

Scuola Calcio Coaching Magazine is aimed to improve youth players from the age of 5 and up. Every activity will be specifically targeted to the appropriate age group.

The Fundamentals of the Goalkeeper (Part 3 of 4)

The following article was featured in the Scuola Calcio Magazine. Was written by Marco Stoini, Director of Coaching for San Luigi Calcio Trieste and Ascoli Soccer Academy Technical Director and translated by Antonio Saviano.

The concept of the psychological and technical FUNDAMENTALS of today’s goalkeepers should have a solid base for “attacking the ball”. What ever movement is put into effect, the idea must never be to endure the ball, but to foresee the ball direction, either in a cognitive sense as well as in a geometric sense; the advantages should be visible, from different points of view.
While the technical fundamentals are easily noticed, for the tactical fundamentals to be noticeable, coaches would have to look at the goalkeepers attentively. The tactical decisions goalkeepers make are different from technical executions.

In general, it can be said that every time the goalkeeper makes a decision (i.e.: position in goal, body position on the field, where to send the ball with his feet or when to come out to clear the ball, how to psychologically condition the opponent and help teammates in their positioning on the field, etc.), he performs a tactical behavior that often alone can save a goal. All this may not seem to influential, because many goals are avoided and because most of the time the intelligent and careful goalkeeper makes good decisions.

Just as the technical qualities make a difference, the tactical and attentive aspects also make the difference between goalkeepers. There are many goalkeepers teaching schools and each one of them has a clear and very specialized connotation on how to teach: it is sufficient to look the significant differences of the technical formulation between goalkeepers, in particular between those coming from various areas.

Obviously, all body movements need to be developed because they are part of that technical base, of which it cannot be absolutely left out. The only applicative limitation in the course of the years is constituted by the age of the student, but at the end, the adult goalkeepers must manage all the technical abilities and possibly have good tactical understanding.

The boxes (above rigth - click on it to enlarge) are a review of the technical and tactical base fundamentals for the goalkeepers. In many of the following seven points you will find different tactical elements... in particular in the particular points: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

This article was featured in the Scuola Calcio Magazine.
Scuola Calcio Coaching Magazine is aimed and dedicated to providing first class soccer information for instructors at all levels throughout the North America and the World.

Ronaldo Backed to Return

Ronaldo has flown to Paris for an operation that will determine when the striker will be able to resume his career.

The striker ruptured a tendon in his left knee in the Serie A fixture with Livorno and if the surgery goes to plan the Brazilian then faces up to nine months on the sidelines.

However, Rossoneri president Silvio Berlusconi has refused to call time on the star and said: "At 31-years-old he is still young and I think that he can return in a number of months to being the champion of old.

"I spoke to him on the telephone and I told him to believe in himself as he has such a great physical capability."

The former World Player of the Title arrived in the French capital at 9am local time and club doctor Jean Pierre Meeserman revealed that Gerard Saillant, the professor who oversaw the same procedure on the player back in 2000, will once again supervise.

He said: "It was Ronaldo himself who asked to be operated on in Paris by the team that put his right knee straight eight years ago."

This article was featured on SerieA.tv. To visit SerieA.tv click here!