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Time of India
3 days ago
- Sport
- Time of India
East Bengal initiative targets all Bengal districts & the NE
Kolkata: East Bengal club has embarked on an ambitious mission to take the beautiful game to different parts of the country and scout for young talents through a grassroots programme. The initiative — named East Bengal School of Excellence and launched in a city hotel on Friday — primarily aims at covering all districts of Bengal and parts of the North-east region. The club will form partnerships with local schools in a particular region and provide them with expert coaching, advanced training techniques and sports science. "For the game to develop in a vast country like India, we need to reach out to every possible talent pool and catch them young. The East Bengal School of Excellence will be ready to provide all necessary teaching and technical expertise against minimum expenses if a school or an association of a particular region wants to develop players and seek our assistance. We've visited all districts in the state and the North-east region and they are keen to be a part of our programme," senior East Bengal official Debabrata Sarkar said. You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata "We want sports to co-exist with education," he added. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Schwerin: Gutes Hören sucht 700 Testhörer für Hörgeräte ohne Zuzahlung Gutes Hören Undo Former India internationals like Bhaskar Gangly and Prasanta Banerjee hailed the initiative as "something unheard of" in Indian sporting landscape. "This will be an ideal platform for budding sportspersons," former India women's cricket team captain Jhulan Goswami said. East Bengal have been running the school for almost three decades at the club tent and the strength of their present students is about 300. EB rally to hold Customs 2-2 in CFL: East Bengal FC came back from a two-goal deficit to hold Calcutta Customs 2-2 in their CFL Premier Division match at the Kalyani stadium on Saturday. Although East Bengal started well, Bino George's side found itself trailing by two goals within 22 minutes. First, defender Chaku Mandi felled Customs forward Sumay Shome inside the box and Shlok Tiwari converted the resultant penalty in the 18th minute. Four minutes later, Sourav Sen made it 2-0 for Biswajit Bhattacharya's Customs, providing the perfect finish to Ricki Gharami's pass. George introduced striker Jeson TK soon after that and carried out two more changes in his line-up after the break, bringing in Sayan Banerjee and Ananthu N. Ananthu reduced the margin in the 61st minute, heading home a Jeson centre and defender Pravat Lakra drove home to make it 2-2 10 minutes later following a Naseeb Rahman pass. This was East Bengal's second draw in a row after starting their campaign with a 7-1 drubbing of Measurers Club.
Time of India
18-06-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
In a league of her own: Sujata storms century-old CFL's male bastion
1 2 3 4 Kolkata: It was a late January afternoon and Sujata Kar was busy doing her household chores when her cellphone buzzed with an urgent summons to meet Southern Samity's general secretary Sourav Pal. Being head coach of the south Kolkata club's football academy, the former Blue Tigresses forward and recipient of the AIFF women's coach of the year award would often exchange phone calls with her present-day employer. But it was a different call which a few hours later would ring in a significant change in her life and sow the seed of a major glass-ceiling act in Indian football. Sourav welcomed Sujata at the club's Rabindra Sarovar Stadium office with a historic proposal — bossing the dugout of the club's senior men's football team in the Calcutta Football League 's top division. "It came as a pleasant surprise," Sujata told TOI on Wednesday. "It was an opportunity too good to be true; it was a challenge so huge that I couldn't simply afford to let go. Through this challenge I could also judge my quality and acceptance among my players," she maintained. The 2025-2026 season of the CFL Premier Division is set to kick-start on June 25. As Southern Samity prepare to face Sreebhumi FC in their first match — the date of which is yet to be announced — Sujata relishes the occasion of becoming the first-ever female coach to be managing a men's senior team in the league's 127-year-old history. "All other coaches (of the participating teams) in the league are better than me and I'll try to learn from them. How they handle a pressure situation, how they control the players and instruct them in different phases of the game. I always think that my potential as a coach could and should be judged against the best in the business. This is going to be quite a demanding examination and I'm ready for it," Sujata noted. Sujata would find in Southern Samity a club which may not be a regular in the championship race but an entity which never fights shy of experimenting. When the club earned its promotion to the top echelon of the local league in 2010, it gave legendary IM Vijayan his first brush with coaching. Sourav provided an insight into what prompted his club to break the glass ceiling with the appointment of Sujata. "Having seen a man (Anthony Andrews) guiding Gokulam Kerala FC women's team to back-to-back (IWL) titles, Sujata's name crossed our mind when we were discussing about appointing a new coach for the men team. If a man can coach a women's team, why can't a woman manage a men's team? Moreover, we have seen Sujata over four years serving this club in various capacities and we have no doubt about her credentials as a coach," Sourav pointed out. The Southern official also drew a line of comparison between the team's debut season in the CFL Premier Division and the current one. "When we hired Vijayan, there was large-scale euphoria and we were determined to do well in the debut season. Unfortunately, we didn't have luck by our side in some matches and we had to part company with a legend like Vijayan in the middle of the season. "However, this time around, we have built the team with a bunch of very young but promising players, picked from various parts of north Bengal. This team needs special care — I would say a mother-like care — for development and Sujata is a perfect fit for the job," Sourav quipped. Long before the likes of Bala Devi and Jyoti Chouhan setting a trend for India women players signing professional contracts with foreign clubs, Sujata was offered a chance to play in Germany, but the deal eventually didn't see light. Her plunge into coaching — following a 25-match stint with the women's senior national team — was inspired by former football administrator Debu Mukherjee in 2013. And her recent credentials as a coach have seen her guide East Bengal FC and Sreebhumi FC to Calcutta Women's League (Kanyashree Cup) titles. Will it be different to manage a men's team now? "No," Sujata said with an emphatic note. "It's like solving a mathematical problem. The formula remains the same whether a man or a woman attempts to solve it," Sujata, standing on the threshold of history, signed off.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Crunch time for red-hot Eagle Sports in bid for league title
Eagle Sports made it 11 wins in a row on Friday by thrashing Lostock Gralam 4-0 (Image: Simon Hancock) BY extending their staggering winning run, Eagle Sports have put themselves on the brink of a first ever Cheshire Football League title. They will still need help from elsewhere but as they prepare for their final game of the CFL Premier Division season tonight, manager Danny Nixon wants his side to take care of their own business first and foremost. Eagle recorded an 11th consecutive victory on Friday night as they hammered Lostock Gralam 4-0 in their last home game of the season thanks to goals from Matty Saunders, Ed Burthem, Amir Hajri and Danny Burthem. Tonight, they wrap up their campaign with a trip to Crewe FC and if they can extend their run to 12, they will climb above current league leaders Poynton, whom they currently trail by two points. All eyes will then be on Poynton's final game of the season away at Middlewich Town – a date for which has not yet been confirmed – but if they rivals slip up, Eagle will lift the title. 'I'm extremely proud of the lads in what they have achieved over the last few weeks,' Nixon said. 'To win 11 straight games in any league is fantastic and is something that will rarely happen, so it's great to see how we've worked hard to get to this point. 'We've now given ourselves a chance to go top of the table on Wednesday and no-one expected that to be possible, so let's go to Crewe ready for one last battle to see if we can get the points. 'It will certainly be a tough game as it's not an easy place to go. 'One more 90 to go, three points to get then we can put our feet up and see what happens elsewhere.'
