German Football Team Camped with SSFL Footballers in Delhi

DFB's German Student National Football Team begins its India tour with
an Orientation Camp with SSFL footballers
STAIRS roped in legendary football coach Tarun Roy to spearhead the
camp
STAIRS also brought on board Grow Fit Grow Strong to conduct Sports
Science Workshop and check agility of players

The German Football Associations (DFB) German Student National Football

Team began its India tour with an Orientation Camp with chosen players from
Stairs School Football League Delhi (SSFL) 2015.

Composed of professional and highly talented footballers who mainly play in

the German 4th division ,The DFB's German Student National Football Team
participated in a skills, knowledge and experience sharing workshop with SSFL
footballers and SSFL coaches.

The Camp was organized on 4 January 2016 at Dr BR AmbedkarStadium by

STAIRS, a non-profit organization that focuses on youth development through
sports. STAIRS is credited for establishing SSFL as the worlds largest football
talent spotting and training programme, an initiative that has caught attention
of the entire sports fraternity for being a promising platform for talented
footballers at the grassroots.

Markus Weidner, the German Football Associations (DFB), Director for

Coaching and International Relations, said, "We are looking forward to a great
start into the new year beginning with a unique engagement with SSFL players
and coaches. I have learnt that SSFL is one of the largest and the most
promising talent spotting and training platforms in the country and interacting
with Team Stairs and engagement with SSFL players and coached was a great
learning experience for us as well as DCBs team.

The camp was spearheaded by legendary Football coach Tarun Roy, who
madeSSFL footballers familiar with various professional tactics including nitty-
gritty of fast-pace game and special dribbling, turning, shooting and square
passing techniques. Roy who once played for India has over 20 years of
experience in coaching, has been a selector of Indian Team andis also a head
coach of Indian Senior Women's Team.
I believe right mentoring and professional coaching at adolescent age can
help in nurturing the talent that can potentially bring laurels to the country. I
am really happy to be associated with STAIRS as they are doing incredible
work for the development of football at the grassroots. The platform that SSFL
has given to the children is the much needed at this time. While it is an
opportunity for youngster to showcase their talent, which was not easily
available in our times, it also promises to give India its future team, said Taurn
Roy.

Siddhartha Upadhyay, Founder and Secretary General, STAIRS Foundation,

said, I am grateful to German Missions in India and DFB for recognizing our
work and getting German Student National Football Team to engage with SSFL
Delhi players. Germany has a great footballing culture and is the World
Champion of football. An engagement with professionals from their country
was a great experience for the budding players of India. Our ultimate aim is to
match the footballing culture as well as the skill and talent levels of countries
like Germany and such engagements and goodwill gestures shall give a
substantial boost to our efforts. We shall continue to conduct such camps in
the,future.
I am also thankful to Tarun Roy for being so humble and believing in STAIRS
initiative. The legendary coach brings with him the years of experience and
international exposure. Under his mentorship and coaching I am sure we will
be able to find and nurture the best footballers that the country needs at this
time.

With an aim to ensure that the scientific approach is added to physical fitness
element at the grassroots sports, we have associated with Grow Fit Strong. The
experts from the organization ensured that the budding footballers are aware
about prevention of serious injuries and ways to maintain the highest levels of
fitness for best performance.

At the camp Grow Fit Strong conducted a science workshop wherein the team
of experts did an agility test and body composition analysis of SSFL
footballers and also had a session with them on sports injuries and ways to
prevent them.

After their interaction with SSFL players in Delhi, the German Students
national team will visit Aizawl, Kolkata and Bengaluru where theywill be
playing friendly matches against Mizoram XI in Aizawland against Ozone FC in
Bengaluru.

The tour to India is supported by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is
being organized by the German Football Association (DFB) with support and
clearance of All India Football Federation, who are the custodians of football in
India.