Indian Super League (ISL) franchise NorthEast United FC (NEUFC) on Wednesday took an initiative to nurture football talent across the eight states of the north-east region by launching its own residential youth academy.
NEUFC said the Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Shillong will offer talented aspiring footballers the best training, education and competition throughout the year with the help of this academy.
Commenting on setting up the academy, club owner and Bollywood actor John Abraham said: "This is a dream come true, when I bid for the team three years ago my first goal was to start a residential academy for the talented kids out there.
"We will all do everything in our power to provide every talented child the opportunity to learn and eventually play for the NEUFC first team."
The plan became an outcome of NEUFC joining hands with Shillong United FC, formerly known as Royal Wahingdoh FC, to develop the region into a footballing power centre.
"We are delighted to start this developmental project with NEUFC," said Dominic Tariang, owner of Shillong United and partner-youth development.
The CoE will also create teams in the Under-13, the Under-15 and Under-18 categories for NEUFC to help the club have abundance of young talents to choose from in future.
--IANS
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