Adolescent Football App Adopted by AIFF as Official Screening Platform | Events Film News

It has been a good year for 17 year olds in Indian football as the Indian U-17 team have had their first taste of the FIFA U-17 World Cup. Recently, another 17-year-old celebrated a milestone day in Indian football, but off the pitch. Indian Football Federation President Praful Patel recently unveiled AIFF’s new scouting app, ScoutMe, created by Delhi teen Kush Pandey. The South Delhi resident, who is a footballer himself, told us he created the app to find backcountry talent and give back to the sport he loves.

Praful Patel, President, Indian Football Association (AIFF)

In sports parlance, scouting refers to the process by which qualified assessors and coaches travel to various parties to observe athletes in action at local competitions to determine if any of them are good enough to be. transferred to better facilities and receive special training. Unlike the West, so far scouting in Indian football has not had a digital platform, which makes it difficult given the size of the country. The application of Kush aims to change that. The app – which was created by Kush during his time at Bhaichung Bhutia Football School for the past two years – has been officially adopted by AIFF as an online screening platform. The app allows scouts and coaches of different levels and leagues of Indian soccer to discover, monitor and report players from all over the country whom they deem worthy of national recognition. “This will help create a database of players that Scouts can keep on file, which will make their jobs easier,” Kush said. The AIFF has announced plans to add a feature to allow players in remote areas to upload their training or play videos. “This is not a replacement for physical scouting. But it will facilitate our work because it will mean that we will not need to be physically present everywhere. Local hidden talent will now have a platform for discovery, ”said Praful Patel.

Dependra Pathak, Special Commissioner (Traffic), Delhi Police

The app creator, 17, is a student at Jayshree Periwal International School in Jaipur and also plays soccer for the city’s soccer team. The idea for this app came to him after a match, he revealed. “A few years ago I was playing for Jaipur against a small village team and we lost against them. I had assumed that with our higher visibility and better training we would win easily, but instead we were beaten by a team from a village that I hadn’t even heard the name of. It was then that I realized that the real talent of Indian football lies in the villages and unfortunately it cannot be discovered. This is how the idea for this app came to me. I plan to use the income from the app and the web portal to help underprivileged Indian footballers, ”he tells us.

Abhishek Yadav, Team Manager, Indian Football Team

Sanjeev Pandey

Kush Pandey with Kushal Das, General Secretary, AIFF

Geeta Pathak with Kavita Pandey

Periwal Jayshree