A decade later, no change in Salgaocar stance; club continues to focus on grassroots

Panaji: You can hear the chants loud and clear: “Play to win, Salgaocar.” Nobody needs any reminding that Salgaocar FC are no longer competing in the top tiers of Indian football. The former champions don’t even have a team in the Goa Professional League. But the club isn’t without a trace. Look at the panchayat ground in Chicalim on any Sunday evening during the summer and you can see for yourself; young kids kicking the ball around, enthusiastic parents gathered on the sidelines, and 30 coaches keeping an eye on what’s happening around them. It’s been ten years since Salgaocar, two-time national league champions, pulled out of the I-League, then the top tier league in Indian football. But while there are no indications of an immediate return, the club’s commitment to grassroots and youth development remains unchanged. “Football was never a business for us, it was always passion,” the club’s vice-president, Swati Salgaocar, told TOI during the concluding ceremony of the community outreach programme at Chicalim recently. “The club was started (in 1956) to provide a platform for Goan talent. If you see what's happened with Indian Super League (ISL), with I-League, there's so much uncertainty. We don’t see any clarity. It's a bit risky for us to build up a system and then not have a kind of an avenue for these players to move around.” When Salgaocar first launched the community programme in 2012, they didn’t know what to expect. The response in the first year was encouraging, and since then, there’s been no looking back. “Every year, we are not sure about the interest for varied reasons, but when we share the form at the beginning of the academic year, the interest is overwhelming. That’s what keeps us going. It’s very heartening to see parents returning with their kids and bringing more along with them,” said Swati. Over 500 children took part in the last edition of the community programme. That number is expected to rise to 600 next season. Salgaocar won’t mind. The best players, after all, will be handpicked for the club’s youth teams. “In the past, when we had a Pro League team and an elite team, there was a clear pathway. Unfortunately, the way football has moved in India, there’s no certainty for any of the clubs. We saw this coming quite a while back, so we decided to sort of take a step back from competing at the state and national level. “Now the pathway for the youngsters is from the community program to youth teams. But more than the competitive aspect, we want to inculcate in them a love for the game. The discipline and teamwork picked while playing football will benefit any child, whatever career he or she chooses. We want to get the kids away from the screens. The least we can do is provide them the opportunity to play outdoors,” said Swati.