The Indian under-13 footballers are gearing up for the AFC girls' festival to be held in Ho Chi Minh City in June. The month-long camp at the LNCPE, Kariyavattom is drawing to an end and 41 players went through their paces under the guidance of coach Anita Sarkar.

Anita, a former international, was the successful coach of the team which participated in the AFC under-14 girls' festival last year.

Hoping for an encore

The Indian team topped the festival winning 21 green cards. Anita is hoping for an encore from the current bunch.

Forty-five girls were selected for the camp based on their performance in the National meet held last year. However, only 41 players reported for the camp which began at the LNCPE on February 2.

“The girls have shown remarkable improvement. Some girls, when they came here, had little skill, but they responded well to the training. We had to be patient and teach them all the basics, since the festival is all about testing player skills.

“I am happy with the overall improvement. We will have another camp and the number of trainees will be pruned to 30. The final team will be selected at the end of the camp,” the coach said.

The full size football field was adjusted to meet the stipulations for the girls. There were sessions devoted to developing skills like shooting, dribbling, passing, etc. The campers also played competitive matches amongst themselves. During the festival, teams play each other in 30-minute and 50-minute matches.

Enthusiastic bunch

“The girls' enthusiasm was unflagging. They were keen to learn and went through the rigorous sessions with smiles on their faces. From time to time we took them out for small outings to ease the pressure as a majority of them were staying away from their families for the first time,” the coach said.

Anita was assisted by Priya, a former Kerala State player, and Kruthi, a physiotherapist.

Original Article on The Hindu.com

From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Monday 1 March 2010, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.