'Prince of Football' Talent Hunt on to Find Sikkim's Next Bhaichung Bhutia

Gangtok, March 1, 2020:

Trials for Sikkim's "prince of football talent hunt" came to an end today and the selected players' names list will be published on February 4.

In the month of December last year, Sports & Youth Affairs Department, Government of Sikkim and Bhaichung Bhutia Football School [BBFS] came together to promote football and to produce more footballers from different corners of the State.

ALSO READ: Shillong Violence: Curfew Reimposed after Stabbings in Bara Bazar Area

The joint venture between SYA Department and BBFA has the main motive to hunt for talented footballers in U-13 and U-15 years age group categories from the grassroot level. The best footballer in U-13 and U-15 will get scholarships and exposure from BBFS, initially for two years. This hunt was named as the "prince of football" talent hunt.

This was the first collaboration between Sports & Youth Affairs Department and the acclaimed BBFS to promote football and to bring out more talented footballers from different corners of the State.

It must be mentioned that coaching camps were organised initially in the district-level by taking talented footballers from grassroot level in U-13 and U-15 categories under the programme, Then, district-level teams in both categories will be formed after 20-days of coaching camp to represent their respective district in the state-level competition.

The U-13 and U-15 teams of the State will be taken by BBFA for exposure trip and after the exposure trip, the best footballers in the U-13 and U-15 category will get the scholarship and exposure trip to clubs in Europe by BBFS, initially for two years.

ALSO READ: Meghalaya Violence: 2 Killed in 2 Days in Clashes, Government Attempts to Restore Order

Meanwhile, Bhutia has informed that two players would get BBFS scholarship in its residential academy and exposure trips to clubs in Europe. He mentioned that scholarship can be extended on the basis of the progress and improvement of the players.

He stated that BBFS was started 10 years back and is now the highest rated football academy of the All India Football Federation. He mentioned that BBFS has been providing coaching to more than 300 children everyday through 75 training centres and more than 200 coaches.

Bhutia also informed that BBFS has been running its scholarship programme since last eight years and many scholarship holders have already played for the country in different age groups. “We always wanted to work for Sikkim and we are thankful to the State government, Minister and SYA Department for this tie-up to work to give more exposure to the talented youngsters,” he expressed.

Support Inside Northeast (InsideNE), an independent media platform that focuses on Citizen-centric stories from Northeast India that are surprising, inspiring, cinematic and emotionally relevant.