It is the virtue of every Indian to be patience and the power to fight difficulties by default. No matter how difficult the situation, we still make it a point to make it out from there. Such is the story of Simla Youngs Football Club (SYFC), which initially played 1st division football but now plays in the 2nd division.
SYFC was formed in the year 1936 by a group of young footballers from school to play in the Durand Cup and is been run by Tushar Dev of Dev Solutions. The club, which has been Delhi League Champions for five times, is finding it hard to survive because of adverse financial crunch. The club which has been a regular feature in the Indian Football scene is constantly bothered by the shortage of money. “We do not have any sponsors. We earlier had spice energy sponsoring for us. But now even they have moved out,” said Ajay, manager of SYFC.
In spite of all the financial shortcomings, the club which has two foreign recruits and players from all over India does not allow its standards to fall. “We have two foreign players, one from Nigeria and one from South Africa. We also have players coming in from all India. We have to give them salary, take care of their stay, food. Money or no money, we do not let our player be disheartened. Extreme manipulation of fund is done in order to run the club. It is like compromising on some expenses this side and pulling it up on the other side. We go through lot of financial adversity but that does not dampen our hopes” added the manager.
The club also has a training centre and has an enrolment of 487 young footballers in different categories ranging from under 11 to under 19. But they completely play down the thought that this training centre was opened to make money. “It is completely out of the love for football we have. We do not have a training centre because we want to make money. We have a vision to promote football and generate more interest in the game amongst children. It’s one of its kind training centre where anyone can come and learn the modern football,” says Ajay.
The club waives off fee for orphans and poor kids. They distribute free kits to these downtrodden kids. The training centre is not just a simple club which organises camps and nothing more than that. It gives a lot of exposure to the players. They organise lot of foreign trips and had been regular visitors to Brazilian Viva.
The club is very well maintained and is total professional set up. “We have 16 coaches, four physiotherapists, and three people in the management. We keep the players under constant scrutiny and they fitness is checked regularly. We give them diet charts, teach them basic fitness methods to keep them fit,” added Ajay.
“There is a football for each player on the ground along with cones and other equipments that has been imported from England. Copies of the drills being taught on the ground are given to each child periodically so that they may practice on his own. On an average there are not more than 15 children in each group. The whole sessions are conducted in a fun manner so that the children learn to love the beautiful game. Also a periodical evaluation system is in place to assess the progress of the child. All age groups periodically play friendly matches with the teams from different schools in the same age group,” the trainees inform, adding that the training centre prepares an evaluation report periodically where in the progress of each player is systematically and carefully observed and recorded.
It is indeed very sad to see a club which has taken the onus on them to glorify the scene of Indian football but faces a lot of hardship due to long standing list of ailments. The club wants to do a lot for Indian football, but wants a fair bit of corporate coming out in their support. And if they get this then they would promise to take football to a new level.
Simla Youngs Football Club (History):
• Simla Youngs was established in Simla (Capital of Himachal Pradesh) in 1936 by a bunch of dedicated players, mostly from the schools.
• Won Shimla Tournament, St Edward Trophy in 1938.
• The club shifted their activities to Delhi in 1940.
• Won the Junior Division League Championship of Delhi & Famous All India Durbar Trophy by beating Hyderabad Police in the final in 1940
• Won Sharfaraz Challenge Shield in 1943.
• Won Shimla Tournament once again in 1945.
• Won Tagore Memorial Cup 1948-49.
• Won the Raja Ji Cup & were finalist in the Darshan Lal Tournament in 1950.
• The only club of Delhi who reached in the Semi Finals of the prestigious Durand Cup in 1973 after beating Mohammedan Sporting , JCT Mills Phagwara etc.
• Finalist in the All India Bokaro Steel Plant Football Tournament in 1987, beaten by Mohun Bagan.
• Won the Delhi League Championship in 1950, 1952, 1972, 1973 & 1976. Runner's up in the Delhi League in 1963, 1964 & 1985.
Current achievements:
• Won the 'A' Division League of Delhi Soccer Association in the year 2001.
• Organizing Inter School soccer leagues for under 10 & under 13 age categories since 2001 amongst the premier schools of Delhi & NCR to promote football amongst the children.
• Won the Lt Governor's Cup (Organized by DDA) in 2003.
• Started a unique football training center at Vinay Marg Sports Complex on 17 Nov 2003 to develop world class football players who will make India qualify in the World Cup.
• Won the 1st Uttaranhal Cup (Organized by Uttaranchal Club, Delhi) in July 2005.
• Won the Sr Division Delhi Soccer League (Organized by DSA) in Nov 2005.
• Participated in the National Football League “B” division held at Jamshedpur in March 2006.
• Participated in Manchester United Premier Cup, India Finals (under 15 Category), held at Mumbai in Jan 2007.