Top Schools & Academies to participate in the upcoming League of Champions

by Siddharth Yadav November 4, 2016

In just more than a week time, ‘Young Footballers’ is organising another big tournament – League of Champions which would see renowned Schools and Academies facing off each other. Young Footballers had already initiated Masters League earlier this year which gained huge appreciation.

The main aim is to organise such local one-day grassroots tournaments throughout the city round the year to promote and develop grassroots football. Such tournaments will give the kids more opportunities and exposures near to their home and more frequently. As it is said “Game is the best teacher” and we believe there is truth in it. These tournaments will also help big clubs and academies to scout young players and transform them into best players.

In the process, we would love to take the benefit of the opportunity and present you the top schools and academies who will be involved in the upcoming extravaganza.

Don Bosco High School (Matunga) – They are undoubtedly one of the top footballing school to stand out in Mumbai.  Over the years, the Matunga-based school has produced a number of talented and emerging players from their ranks. Also, Don Bosco came out on top in Masters League when they triumphed in Under-10 and Under-12 boys category. Earlier this year in Kenkre – Go Green Cup, Don Bosco ‘B’ Under-8 team finished as the runners-up after going down 2-1 against FFA ‘A’. One of Don Bosco’s player Zarayas A was among the MSSA Soccer Excellence Award 2015-16 winners. Their U-16 side also finished as runner-ups in the MSSA (Mumbai Schools Sports Association) U-16 boys category, losing to Campion School ‘A’ in the Final. The U-12 and the U-14 side has also Dominic Savio Cup, Olympian Neville D’Souza Memorial Trophy, Pheroz K. Bookbinder Trophy, Dr Anthony Sequeira Trophy, and Ratan Surveyor Trophy in their cabinet, all of them has been won in the 2015-16 season. They are surely aiming to emulate the same form in the upcoming League of Champions.

St. Stanislaus High School (Bandra) – They are yet another school who has made their name in Mumbai Football. The Bandra-based school are quite synonymous in the tournaments such as MSSA, DSO, Go Green, Kenkre Champions League. St. Stanislaus’ Under-14 side came as the runner-up in Dominic Savio Cup, Dr Anthony Sequeira Trophy, Dr Nicholas Antao Trophy and as well as in Olympian Neville D’Souza Memorial Trophy, where they amusingly lost to Don Bosco (Matunga) in the Final on all the four occasions. In the Pheroz K. Bookbinder  Trophy, the ‘A’ side finished on the fourth position below Don Bosco (Matunga), Bombay Scottish, and St. Dominic Savio. Earlier this year, St. Stanislaus had also reached Go Green Cup semi-final in the U-10 category. League of Champions might prove to be the platform where they can come out on top.

St. Francis D’Assisi (Borivali) – In the recent years, this Borivali-based school has improvised and has proved to be one of the top schools to play football. Their courage and determination to win are top-notch and they are commonly termed as ‘underdogs’. In the 2015-16 season, St. Francis D’Assisi ‘A’ managed to finish in the fourth position in the First Division of Boys Under-14 in Dominic Savio Cup, finishing below Don Bosco High School (Matunga) and St. Stanislaus, St. Mary (Maz). League of Champions is the perfect platform for St. Francis, it will interesting to see how will they cope up with other big schools and academies.

Baichung Bhutia Football School (Navi Mumbai) – After its success in Delhi, BBFS announced its launch in the City of Dreams. Boasting of one of the biggest and most active school leagues in India, Mumbai has become an exciting venture for BBFS. It runs under the philosophy that no talented Indian kid should be deprived of the best football coaching facilities in the country due to lack of money. They offer special schemes for worthy candidates from economically vulnerable backgrounds, which is personally screened by the BBFS team. As much as 30% of the enrolled students at BBFS are targeted to be from the underprivileged section of the society. Needy and talented children from various age groups are offered scholarships of up to 100% so that they get an opportunity to get the best out of their talent.

Kalina Youngster Sports Foundation (Kalina) – They have been one of the fastest emerging academies in the town and they are already making their name in the heart of the city. Kalina Youngster Sports Foundation are participating in City’s top tournaments to promote grassroots at the very higher stage. Back in the Masters League, Kalina Youngster Sports Foundation finished as the runner-up in the Boys U-12 category as they lost to tournaments favourites Don Bosco (Matunga) in the Final. It is quite fascinating to see such academies are stepping up for the growth of football in past couple of years.

Sri Ma Gurukul Thane, GIFA Colaba, India on Track (Arsenal Academy) from Thane, and Kings United Dadar are some of the other tough participants who will be involved in League of Champions.

To read more about Masters League please click on http://bit.ly/2fKSJVl

To read more about Kenkre Champions League, please click on http://bit.ly/2eGvW8L

To read more about Kenkre Go Green Tournament, please click on http://bit.ly/2fosDTB

PS: These are strictly the schools which are participating in the ‘League of Champions‘, please follow www.footballcounter.com to know more about other schools that are most active and most performed on a rather bigger stage that involves District Associations such as MSSA, DSO, as well as other elite clubs/academies.