The Jammu and Kashmir State Sports Council is set to start a new academy in Srinagar with Indian international Mehrajuddin Wadoo acting as an advisor for the academy. The announcement was made at a meeting of the Council in Srinagar on Tuesday.
The academy will conduct trials across three age groups, the Under-13’s, the U-15’s and the U-18’s this week, starting from May 18. The academy will run throughout the year and will aim to catapult local Kashmiri talent into national focus, especially keeping in mind that 2017 was the year that India hosts the Fifa Under-17 World Cup.
This is the first state-sponsored academy in the region and the third one overall after the ones set up by Real Kashmir and Lonestar Kashmir FC. The state government also announced a sum of 50 lakhs to set up football camps and clubs across villages and for the conduct of local grassroots tournament.
The state government also announced that it would spend 3 lakh to each district Sports Council in a bid to try and encourage more children to take up a sport.