Spanish club Deportivo Alavés partners with La Liga Football Schools in India

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La Liga Club, Deportivo Alaves has partnered with La Liga India's focal grassroots development project, La Liga Football Schools to adopt the St Joseph's turf in Bandra, Mumbai.

Deportivo Alaves will administer the programme that provides technical training to young people and trainers as well as take part in additional engagement activities.

The alliance was recently established through a tournament followed by a fun fiesta at the Turf, as part of an engagement initiative for the participants.

48 young aspirants participated in the tournament, and they were split into three divisions based on their age (u10, u14, u16). The Spanish club provided sponsored kits for all the participants, and all the players also received memorabilia at the end of the event. This is the inception of training and other grassroots campaign of the Alaves-based club in India.

Mr. Miguel Casal Bouzon, Regional Technical Head, La Liga football schools, said, "With this partnership, Deportivo Alavés becomes the latest LaLiga club to enter India aiming to develop players both on and off the pitch. This association serves a fantastic opportunity for young aspirants to understand the technical aspect of the sport such as tactics, mental strength, fitness, and agility and prepare them to represent their respective teams at any platform."

Mr. Jose Antonio Cachaza, Managing Director, LaLiga India, said, "We specifically want to foster the hard work and commitment mentality at Deportivo Alavés in the young Indian football players. Deportivo Alavés is home to some of the most technically strong coaching staff and crew, who exude rich Spanish football DNA. Due to our shared enthusiasm for developing the beautiful game and the appetite we see this country having for it, they are the perfect partners for the LaLiga Football Schools programme."

Mr. Fernando Iriarte, Head of International Academy, Deportivo Alavés, said India as one of the biggest markets of sports and expressed his elation at this de novo cooperation. He also added that they hope to improve the infrastructure of the game in India and help to develop the Indian players, along with an aim to increase the fanbase of Deportivo Alaves in India.

Deportivo Alaves at a Glance:

Deportivo Alavés is a Spanish Football club that was established on January 23, 1921 in Vitoria-Gasteiz (Álava, Basque Country) and has been representing the historical territory of Álava-Araba through football for 101 years. Although it originally responded to the name of Sport Friend's Club (its beginnings date back to July 1920), it was in January 1921 when it came to bear the name by which it is known today: Deportivo Alavés.

The La Liga Football Schools Project was initiated in 2018 and since then has impacted 10,000+ students in the country. The programme, which is developed and administered by UEFA pro-licensed coaches from Spain, provides access to global football methodology and technical training to students aged between 9 to 15 years all over India. Furthermore, the programme is also designed to leave a deeper impact on the grassroots level through the training of Indian football coaches and administrators of the programmes.

(with inputs from agency)