Chennaiyin FC and Norwich City FC have joined up to establish the 2025 Inter School Football Championship. As part of the two clubs’ strategic relationship, they have initiated this event for school children to demonstrate their commitment to expanding the sport in the state. Neel Jayaram, head of marketing, joined goalkeeping coach Rajat Guha and first-team keeper Mohanraj at the launch ceremony to address questions from the media.
Neel Jayaram on the tournament:
The 2025 Inter School Football Championship is scheduled to begin on January 22 and last for nearly three weeks, ending on February 22, 2025. A total of 64 teams will compete in the competition, 32 in each of the U-12 and U-14 age groups. The entire competition will be held at MCC School, and the schools competing will be from Chennai. Chennaiyin FC scouts’ involvement and the club’s plans to grow the competition in the following years were discussed by Neel Jayaram.
“What this whole tournament is about is to sort of uplift the sport of football on the whole, especially in Chennai and Tamil Nadu. And considering the fact that we are a Chennai based team and a football team as well, we have taken the responsibility to, you know, make such tournaments happen as well. So, to give you a little bit of information about the tournament, it’s a 64-team tournament for schools. And the two age categories that we are focusing on is under 12 and under 14. It’s going to be starting on January 24th.”
“It’s a three-week tournament. 11v11 format. So, we are expecting around 11,200 school students to participate. All the registrations are done as well. And the format is pretty straight forward. League plus knockout for all the teams that participate in. And by February mid-week, I think we will have the finals. And we will be sort of incentivizing them as per what we plan to do as well.”
“And in the whole course of the tournament, one advantage that we will be providing is that our CFC scouts will be there. So, we want to ensure the talent that are there in Chennai, in Tamil Nadu, we will identify them, integrate them into our youth system as well. For example, we want to create more Mohan like that and more Samik as well. So, that is the most important goal.”
Neel Jayaram on the expansion of the tournament:
Chennaiyin FC organized a similar competition in 2019 in collaboration with Boost. However, owing to Covid and lockdown, the proposal could not be carried further, and the competition is set to resume this year. While the competition is taking place in Chennai this season, Neel Jayaram insisted that the plan is to spread it throughout the state in the following years.
“The whole tournament is a proof of concept. Hopefully, in the next years, we will get sponsors on board. And we want to make this a yearly event. As a goal for us with Norwich City FC is to propagate the grassroots football in Tamil Nadu. Now, in Chennai, the goal is to scale it up towards Tamil Nadu. Get more schools and more participants.”
“We have a 5-year plan. Let’s say, Tier 1 city is Chennai. Next, we can tap into Coimbatore, Trichy, Salem, etc. If that brings success, then we extend it to more. The more people hear about this tournament, the more people are going to participate. We did this in 2019. After COVID, we weren’t able to do it. So, we have to start fresh. We don’t want to do a lot more right now. We are taking baby steps.”
“First, we will capture Chennai. Next, we will capture Tier 2 cities. Then, like you said, in terms of Kanyakumari, it makes a lot of sense. But that’s the ultimate vision. Half a decade is the plan that we want to do it. This year, it is fully funded by Chennaiyin FC and Norwich City FC. Next, we will take sponsors. With more money, we will be able to invest more in terms of on-ground operations. Then, we will be able to go to a lot of other cities as well. That’s the plan.”
Rajat Guha on the opportunity for youngsters:
Rajat Guha, Chennaiyin FC’s goalkeeping coach, has previously worked with the Delhi Dynamos and Odisha FC junior squads. In 2022, he joined Chennaiyin FC as goalkeeper coach. From Bengal, where many of these events are held, Rajat Guha discussed how it will enable the young players to showcase their abilities.
“Grassroots always help us to identify the talent at the early age. It is something like the base or foundation of a building. So, if we wanted to find a better footballer, we have to catch them young. So, this tournament will give these kids opportunity and proper competitive playing time. Because most of the academies, they make the training for the kids. They do the grassroots training. But that is not a competitive football.”
“But this tournament will give them the opportunity to play in the competitive level. If we find any talented young kid from this tournament, we will definitely want to include them in our youth system. Mohan is sitting over there; he was with us till under 13. So, almost like 7-8 years he was with us. Now, he is a part of the senior team. Same, Samik also comes from the youth system. This tournament will give us the opportunity to find out more Tamil Nadu home-based local players. And that will help us to create more fan base over here.”
Mohan on the opportunities for the youngsters:
Mohan, a local boy from Tamil Nadu, joined the club at the age of 13 and has remained a part of the club ever since. He made a name for himself at several younger levels throughout the years, and most recently, he made the move to the first squad. Mohan talked about how it may provide the young schoolchildren a great chance to play and show off their skills.
“These tournaments provide invaluable exposure for young players, especially those in the Under-12 and Under-14 age groups. It’s a fantastic opportunity for kids to gain playtime while showcasing their talents in front of youth team scouts, enabling players to transition from local tournaments to youth teams. This is the foundation, from there, they can continue to develop and eventually progress to senior levels of the sport.”
Chennaiyin FC x Norwich City: What’s next?
Chennaiyin FC and Norwich signed a strategic partnership in April 2024 over a three-year period. As a part of the collaboration, we saw the Chennaiyin FC youth team playing against the youth teams of Europe’s elites like Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan and more as a part of the 2024 MINA Cup. Neel Jayaram talked about what’s planned for the upcoming months and years as a part of the partnership.
“We are doing in the month of May, a football experience tour where we are sending kids to Norwich. Their facilities are probably one of the best in Europe. So, they have created a 9-days, 8-nights tour package. Where they want to get kids who are interested in football to go there, show them what it feels to train under, you know, a European licensed coach in their facilities. Sort of do a tour of Carrow Road as well, Wembley. And then, they want to give them the overall experience of how a player is signed. Right, from a basic medical. So, all the feel-good factor along with training is the sort of package that they want to give. “
“What is also advantageous for us is, through that, our coaches and young players are also getting their experience as well. So, in this way, we collaborate in workshops with the coaches. That’s the most important thing. Because technically, right, what we are getting from Norwich is several, most of that happens on a fortnightly basis for our coaches, who will then teach our soccer school students and sort of improve as well. So, this is an ongoing process for the next three years. So, small, small steps.”
“We do have a plan where we want to send some of our reserve players, top players, to at least a six-week program to Norwich. Because as per passport and immigration process, it is a six-week plan. So, the plan is that in the next six months, in two quarters, we will identify those two players who we think have the potential to transition to the first team. It wouldn’t be an exchange program as such, but we will be sending our players over there.”
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