Tottenham Hotspur Foundation (THF) mentors Gareth Jones and Daniel Slaughter were recently in India to help improve the quality of coaching in the country for people with intellectual disabilities.
Jones and Slaughter trained coaches from the Special Olympic Bharat association, also focusing on the process of social inclusion of people with below-average learning abilities.
After completing the first round of training in Kolkata, THF coaches took part in a three-day development programme from September 18-20, held at the Scottish High International School in Gurgaon, Haryana. "We are here to motivate the coaches and teach them the fun aspects of football and Hotspur way to guide their players," Jones said.
THF and Special Olympics Bharat have come together to improve the quality of coaching in India for people with intellectual disabilities, leading to a greater talent pool across the country.
Asked about the potential in Indian coaches, both the coach from English Premier League club's foundation hailed their progress and willingness to learn. "The future of Indian football is in good hands," Slaughter said. "The Indian coaches are excellent; they are willing to learn, they came to us and shared their ideas. We learnt from them as well," he added.
Supported by the Premier League, the project benefits 30,000 people with intellectual disabilities across India by way of quality training and providing access to sporting initiatives.
With the idea to improve the standard of Indian football and make it the favoured sport, THF coaches feel it's important to have an impact on the people and develop partnership. Not only this, both Jones and Slaughter backed the advent of Indian Super League (ISL), claiming it as a favourable move for Indian football.
"It's an opportunity for the home-grown talent to get a hype," said Slaughter. "Having foreign players into the game brings more glamour to the game."
THF was established as a registered charity in 2006 with significant investment from Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.
'Special Olympics Bharat' is a National Sports Federation accredited to the Special Olympics Inc that conducts its sports programmes all over India. It organises Olympics-type sports for persons with intellectual disabilities with over a million athletes registered in the programme currently.
Initial stages of the project will see Tottenham Hotspur staff train 200 coaches in four Indian locations (Goa, Gujarat, Kolkata and Haryana) this year, working with over 600 athletes with intellectual disabilities.
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