Barrackpore United Sports Club has engaged the services of national women’s football coach Rajesh Latchoo as its technical director for the ongoing TTFA NGC National Super League Championship Division season.
“There is a wealth of talent in these rural areas but often their lack of exposure and drive are often their downfall,” said Latchoo who is also a TTFA coaching instructor.
“Only the serious players show that appreciation for training and wanting to go to the next level. So as the window opened we kept the serious players and formed a partnership with Caledonia to prepare a couple of their reserve players for 2016 while we balanced the team with other experience players who were waiting to play pro league in January and needed to keep match fit for when they return to their respective Clubs, like Dwane James and Conrad Smith.
“My role at the club is to help the club owner Josh Dhanesar realise his vision of taking football to the next level in Barrackpore by helping to implement and maintain the right training environment and club structure. Most players from rural areas don’t get the exposure to a professional environment because of the distance they have to travel to reach that environment, so what Josh is doing is bringing that environment to them.
“Besides the senior team the Club has also started its own youth academy so that it can expose and prepare players for future teams.
Football in Barrackpore has a history with several domestic games being played on the old A-class Trintoc ground located near GP Road in the past. Teams such as X-Men Sports club have also drawn decent grounds at its Carat Hill home base while the Barracpore Secondary ground has been host to a vibrant Primary Schools League for schools in the area.
“The greatest challenge for most ‘country’ or zonal teams is the lack of commitment to training as they believe they can just show up to a game, play and win. The first thing people think of when they hear the name Barrackpore is cricket but football holds a special space here. At Barrackpore United. the management has done everything possible to make sure players can attend sessions and games by providing transport for the players to and from training,” Latchoo said.
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