The dream has come true
This was around 1980. A number of ex-football players of North Kolkata met occasionally at Deshbandhu Park. They had all played the first division teams of Kolkata and few of them had also represented india at the international arena. Over cups of tea, one of the most favourite discussions they had, was the sorry state of Indian football. Sometimes, they would watch the young players displaying their talents in football on the ground of Deshbandhu Park and wondered what they could do if they were driven properly by coaching. One day this particular thought took the shape of building up a football coaching camp.
The heart of the whole project was Late Pashupati Bhattacharjee, much known as “Lentu da” among the football admirers and the sports circles and the former football captain and secretary of first division team BNR Club, Kolkata. Local authorities were approached for using a part of Deshbandhu park for the project which was immediately accepted. Through personal contacts of the footballers, goal bars and balls were obtained. Only a few number of the young boys who used to play in the park were chosen as the first trainees. Members of the group who developed the idea of this coaching camp, started coaching the boys in turn.
Finally in 1990, this coaching camp was given the shape of a football academy by hint of hard labour by Mr. Pashupati Bhattacharjee and his co-workers Mr S.Mukherjee, Mr Benu Dasgupta, Dr. Sambhu Bag, Mr Bholanath Dutta, Mr Sahil Nath and others.
A dream came true. On 28th March 1990, North Calcutta football academy was founded. The academy was registered under the WEST BENGAL SOCIETY REGISTRATION ACT much later in 1998.
Meanwhile, the serious effort to develop this academy never waned. The effort of the organizers developed interest among the football heroes and sports enthusiasts which finally brought Mr Ashok Ghosh, the then President of Bengal Olympic Association, to play a vital role as the Chief Patron of the academy. The very next year, the legendary Mayor of Kolkata and chairman, West Bengal State Sports Council and a football admirer from the core of his heart Mr. Kamal Kumar Basu entangled himself with the academy as Chief Patron. Others who patronized the organization for years included Mr Sabyasachi Dasgupta(benuda), Mr Makhan Gupta and Mr Sambhu Ghosh. The seniors like Mr B R Sengupta, Mr Subodh Basu, Mr Sibnath Das, Mr Dipak Nandy, Mr Somnath Bhattacharya and others came forward like earlier days to save the dream to a monument.
The year 2000 was a shocking year in the history of NCFA. The heart of the academy Mr. Pashupati Bhattacharjee passed away this year. However, his absence was refilled with his co-workers. In 2001, Former Secretary of Mohanbagan Club Sambhu Ghosh joined the academy as chief patron. Coaches like Samir das, Rupak mukherjee, rabin mukherjee, amal chakraborty, ashis dutta, barun banerjee, ashis samanta, pranab chakraborty, nirmal roy and tarun das, all well known for their contribution in the field of football, came forward to coach the young players and develop their talents. Dr Sambhu Bag, former referee and a doctor by profession, much known as doctor for the footballers, took an active role in the field of sports medicine.
Before 2000, and Advisory Committee were formed. The Advisory Committee and a Technical Committee were formed. The advisory committee included a famous international umpire Prof. Dr. Sekhar Chaudhari, Prof. Dr. R N Mukherjee, Dr. Subir Ghosh. Mr Pratul Sengupta, Mr. Arun Mitra and Dr. Aniruddha de. The technical committee included the legendary footballer Mr. Sukumar Samajpati, Mr Sukumar Saha, Mr Mridul Banerjee, Mr Pradip Nag, Mr Karuna Chakraborty, Mr Suprakash, Mr Kallol Dutta and Mr. Asit Ghosh.
Despite training was going on by the local coaches, an opportunity came up in 1999 to get a German coach to train up the academy footballers in collaboration with German Olympic Committee. He was an international coach – Mr Jurgen Mustaf. Mr Jurgen was welcomed to Kolkata for the first time in the city of joy. It was a great achievement for the academy. In the year 2000, the academy stepped further. Mr Murkus Hamble, Mr Alki Rose and Mr Martlic who came to the city in an arrangement with Sports Authority of India, agreed to train up the academy students.
Since then, there has been hardly any gap in getting a foreign coach for the students and most of the times, Mr Jurgen Mustaf was the coach. He himself says now, “ I am no more a foreign coach. I feel myself a Kolkatan footballer.“
To maintain the progress, North Calcutta Football Academy has always tried to take up different programmes and activities all through since its inception. The committee started organizing residential camps for the young footballers since 1999. The team of the footballers under the banner of the NCFA also started participating in different football tournaments in the state. They won number of trophies and shields which are really the pride of the academy. Health check up camps are organized regularly. Even the academy did not forget to stand by the victims of Ayla in the Sunderbans and surroundings.
In 2008-09, a innovative scheme was taken to build up a Coaches Adda. The basic objective was to discuss the issues related to the academy and Football as a whole. There were discussions , debates and chats. And finally some major findings and decisions came out.
Other than this, every year, a cultural evening is presented by the academy where distinguished coaches and players are given reception. A good number of cultural maestros participate in the programmes. A souvenior is also published.
A few hundred boys have been trained by NCFA since its inception. Among them 60 to 70 footballers are playing different clubs of Kolkata Maidan. Pradip Laha and Jayanta Ghosh are two of them who were selected in the INDIA TEAM in 1998-99. Presently 35 trainees are being coached regularly by NCFA coaches.
But the basic problem to grow further is the lack of fund and enthusiastic workers. The academy which needs a flow of fund always for the projects and schemes for the betterment of the trainees, all through has been suffering for the want of fund.
The progress which has been achieved so far, rests only upon the tremendous enthusiasm of some old football maniacs and their will power. Otherwise the dream would have been lost only as a dream. The North Calcutta Football Academy would never come true.
The need of the hour is to organize a required flow of fund through out the year. Otherwise, the effort will not reach the goal – to build up footballers to a standard because proper coaching needs proper coach and proper food. NCFA is unable to fulfill the complete requirement right now.
The NCFA members need to sit together and find out the ways and means so that the monument that has been built up does not come down to the earth.