TFA faces a tall order

JAMSHEDPUR, June 9: Twenty years into the 'business' of producing footballers, the Tata Football Academy (TFA) has suddenly realised that size does matter.
And to catch up with this, youngsters like Robin Singh, a six-footer from Noida who gave up cricket to pursue a career in football, are being admitted to the academy.
Of course, they know it’s a tall order.For an academy whose main talent pool comes from the north-east, finding tall players is no easy task. The region is never known for producing tall players and that has forced the TFA to hunt in Kerala and north India.
"To compete at the Asian level, India will have to produce tall, well-built players, and with TFA being the leading supplier of footballers to the Indian teams, the onus is now on us. Even national coach Bob Houghton has been stressing on this," says TFA coach Ranjan Choudhury.
So, Robin Singh may just be the beginning of a new-look TFA. Young and confident, with that typical north Indian ‘aggro’, Robin is happy that he has dumped cricket for the beautiful game. "I will be part of the national team one day," he tells you with an air of confidence.
"They are the Generation Next," says Carlton Chapman, the buck-toothed former India captain who is now the assistant coach at TFA. "Our time was different."
Chapman, who was a fiery player during his playing days, says the academy is also planning to start aptitude tests. "That will help us during the screening process," he adds.
Choudhury says the future looks perfect for TFA: "Like always, we are producing top national level players. The under-23 pre-Olympic team has a number of players from the academy. And look at Churchill Brothers." Churchill played the most attractive football this season and Vanlal Rova, Naoba Singh, Jennith Anderson, Kantang Paite all honed their talent at the academy.
What worries the TFA think-tank is the fact that the clubs are not guiding these young players properly. Thrown straight into the cauldron, many players are finding it difficult to cope with the expectations of officials and supporters.
N Lalmpuiya, a key player for Kolkata giant Mohun Bagan is finding it difficult to handle the pressure. TFA sources confirmed that they are keeping a tab on the 19-year-old and will counsel him if the situation demands. "He is too good a player to go astray," they said.