Selection trials for Super Division team Students Union

Students Union, a BDFA Super Division club will be organizing trial for the 2019-20 BDFA Super Division League. 

Those who have played for the state or university and are on the verge of breaking into the highest level can attend trials on 3.30 pm, Wednesday, July 24 at the Bangalore Football Stadium. 

Open trials for A Division Young Challengers football club

BDFA A Division club Young Challengers FC will be organizing an open trial to pick players for the coming 2019-20 season. 

They have roped in Murali Joseph, former state and HAL and ITI player. Murali has also turned out for Mohun Bagan and Salganokar during his playing days. Also, joining the ranks is R Gopal, former player and current Santhosh Trophy assistant coach as the coordinator of the club. 

The trial will be held at 7:30 am, July 26 and 27, 2019 at Jeevanhalli Sir Grounds, Bengaluru. Interested players are requested to report at 7.30 am. 

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For further queries, you may contact… 

- Murali Joseph - Coach - 9008443716I9632077757

- v Govindarajan -Asst. Coach – 9686321968

- R Gopal 9845439347 - Co-ordinator

- Ramesh 9886048788 - Manager

 

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Bengaluru sign Osasuna Striker Manuel Onwu

Bengaluru FC Media 

Bengaluru FC have completed the signing of Spanish striker Manuel Onwu Villafranca ahead of the 2019-20 season, the club announced on Wednesday. 

The 31-year-old striker who becomes the 13th Spaniard to sign for the Blues, has put pen to paper on a one-year deal with the club having an option to extend it for another year. 

“Having spent a fair bit of time playing in Spain, I was looking for a different experience. However, I wanted to join a strong project where we fight for ambitious goals. That's the reason I'm very excited to join Bengaluru FC. I've heard a lot of good things about the club from many Spanish players in the league, and that helped me make a decision about coming here. I look forward to meeting my new teammates and hope to help the club build on their success from last season,” said Manuel after putting to paper.   

Welcoming him to the Blues fold, Coach Carles Cuadrat said, “Manuel comes in after a long playing career in Spain that includes playing at the very top. He will provide us with some good options in attack and we expect him to settle in easily. Of course, he isn't a direct replacement for Miku, because we're talking about two very different types of players. Manuel is a great professional, and his experiences will definitely make him a great addition to our squad.”

Born in Tudela, Manuel had youth spells with Club Atlético Valtierrano and CD Tudelano, making his senior debut with the latter in 2006. In 2007, Onwu signed with Osasuna B and had a couple of loan spells at CD Iruña (2007-08) and UD Alzira (2008) before returning to the reserve team of the La Liga side. While Manuel featured and netted regularly for Osasuna B in the Segunda B Division, he was called up to the first team and made his La Liga debut in March 2012.

Having played three seasons in the Spanish top flight and another one in the Segunda Division for Osasuna, Manuel had a brief spell in Georgia with FC Dinamo Tbilisi where he was part of the side that won the 2015 Georgian Cup. He returned to Spain the following season and featured for Lleida Esportiu (2015-16) and Lorca FC (2016-18) helping the latter to a promotion to Segunda Division in his first season. In January 2018, he moved to UCAM Murcia CF and featured regularly and in fact, was the top-scorer for the Universitarios with 11 league goals in the 2018-19 season.

At Bengaluru, Manuel becomes the fourth Spaniard in the current squad joining Juanan Gonzalez, Dimas Delgado, and Albert Serran.

HAL emerge 2018-19 BDFA C Division champions

Favorite HAL defeated FRIENDS UNITED 1-0 in the final of the C Division league championship. The only goal of the final match was scored goal in the added time of the first half. 

The four semifinalists – HAL, Mohammedan Sporting, Friends United, and Rebels FC are promoted to B Division for the 2019-20 season. 

Awards 

• Best Goalkeeper: Rakesh (Friends United)
• Best Defender: Noel (Koramangala)
• Best Midfielder: Rupesh (HAL) 
• Best Forward: Thomas Koshy (Rebels FC) 
• Upcoming team: Rebels FC

Sachin Badhade joins as Bengaluru FC U15 coach from Minerva

Bengaluru FC Media 

Bengaluru FC have confirmed the addition of I-League winning coach Sachin Badadhe to the Academy staff, the club announced on Tuesday. The 39-year-old AFC ‘A’ License holder joins the Blues’ residential set up in Bellary after guiding I-League side Minerva Punjab to a third-place finish in Group E of the AFC Cup.

Badhade, who completed his AFC ‘A’ License in 2019, brings in valuable experience to the BFC Academy where he will take charge of the U15 squad. Welcoming him to the Bengaluru-fold, Head of Youth Development, Naushad Moosa said, “It’s great to have Sachin as the Head Coach of our U15 side. He is someone who has experience at both the youth and senior level, and it will help him deal with all the youngsters in the right way. We’ve had a lengthy discussion about the club’s philosophy and what is expected from him. He sounded comfortable and understands his role. Given that the U15 level is an important phase for the players, he will play a crucial role in getting the boys up to speed with the tactical aspects of the game.”

Meanwhile, Badadhe who signed a two-year deal with the Indian Super League champions, was excited at the prospect of working at the extensive set-up at Bellary, “I would like to thank the club management for giving me this opportunity. I am excited and all geared up to work with the most professional club in the country. It won’t be an easy job, but I aim to always give my best.”

“I believe a lot in discipline, and that’s one of the key aspects I’ll look to imbibe on the youngsters. Discipline is important both on and off the field, and once we achieve a good level, all things will work for us from there on. That’s what I’ve learnt coaching at the top level and that’s the aim as we want to get as many players to the top level as possible,” added Badadhe, who is hoping to bring in his continental experience handy in helping the youngsters move up in Bengaluru’s player pathway.  

Having played football locally in Pune and Mumbai, Badadhe turned to coaching in 2014 with the Maharashtra State Police, before joining Bharat FC (2015-16) as a Youth Coach. The Pune-native went on to train Maharashtra’s U17 (2016) and U18 (2017) teams apart from working with Madhya Pradesh’s Pride Sports FC (2016-17).

His big break came in 2017-18 at Minerva Punjab where he won the I-League title as an Assistant Coach before taking over as the Head Coach in 2019 leading them into the AFC Champions League qualifier and the AFC Cup Group Stage apart from the latter half of the I-League.

While Badadhe takes over as the U15 Coach, Ajay Chorge who guided the team to the Junior League finals last season will take over as the coach of the U13 team which will be fully residential in Bellary starting this season. As part of the youth restructuring, the U18 side will now be based in Bengaluru and will train under Naushad Moosa and Sandesh Bhoite forming a major part of BFC B with a view of getting more competitive action at a higher level. 

Double Pass Development League for grassroots launched in the Garden City

Press release 

International youth football development experts Double Pass launched Double Pass Development League (DPDL) in Bangalore at ‘Kicks on Grass’ last weekend with thunderous applause from parents, animated goal celebrations from children, and superfocused team huddles from coaches. 

The emphasis on development of grassroots football in India has never been more significant than it is today, and the city of Bengaluru experienced this at a whole new level with its largest season-long grassroots competition launching to tremendous fanfare.

The competition follows a league-cum-knockout format spread across 6 months with matches held on weekends. This season overall will host 600+ matches from three age categories (U7, U9, U11) and will provide an opportunity to compete to approximately 500 kids from 39 teams between June 2019 to January 2020. 

Some of the most prominent football academies in Bangalore, including the youth teams of the current Indian Super League (ISL) champions Bengaluru FC, are taking part in the season long competition. Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools, Roots Football School, Raman Sports Academy, BARÇA Academy Bengaluru, Gameday Football Academy, to name a few, have incredible talent representing them in DPDL 2019/20. The hyper-local format of DPDL further enriches Bangalore’s football ecosystem by giving the lesser known academies a chance to challenge and compete with the best from the city. 

DPDL is Bangalore’s largest grassroots league and is supported by the Karnataka State Football Association (KSFA) and approved by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) under its player development initiative – Baby Leagues. Double Pass India Director, Sarthak Dubey said at the launch, “it is imperative we align our goals with the strategic plan of AIFF and improving the quality of competition at the grassroots level is the number one focus area for the National Federation. We at Double Pass believe that more competitive games will result in better skill acquisition and eventually create better players.” 

Double Pass is a global leader in youth development & quality standards at football academies and has worked with the Premier League and German Bundesliga to optimize their talent development ecosystems. Double Pass India director Rajat Baid said – “using the unique framework of Double Pass will help us to assess the current status of Indian academies and their benchmarking against European counterparts. The league will be a perfect platform not only to maximize competitive playing time but also be assessed with quality standards that help make academies successful around the globe.”