By Prarthana Hazarika
Guwahati, Sept 12: Former India international Renedy Singh believes India needs to stop looking at youth football through the narrow prism of tournament results and instead build a sporting culture backed by long-term planning and year-round competition.
With India’s U-20 side securing qualification for the AFC U-20 Asian Cup, Renedy says the immediate priority should be to support the team rather than dwell on what went wrong in the past.
“Instead of criticising what we have not done, what can we do now? What can we do to help this team after qualifying?” Renedy told The Meghalayan Express.
He believes academies, clubs and coaches across the country are already making efforts and that the focus should be on improving collectively.
“If you ask any academy in India, any coach in India, they all are working. Nobody wants to lose. They all are working. So instead of criticising what we have not done, what can we do now? Can we look forward? Can we think positive?” he said.
For Renedy, development begins with creating a sporting culture rather than simply trying to produce professional athletes.
“Everyone is doing sports. Sports will help to study, concentrate better also. It’s about creating that healthy culture, that sporting culture. It’s not only that everyone will become (a professional athlete). So we need to create this first, and things will follow by itself, I feel,” he said.
He believes sports education and coaching education will eventually follow once that culture is established.
“Then all these things come at a gradual level — working, then sports education, then coaching education, then all this will come later, I think. So we are missing out on that, honestly,” Renedy said.
But perhaps the biggest issue, according to him, is the absence of a sustained competitive calendar for young footballers.
“We don’t have a proper calendar where you have to play for the whole year. And this is something, it’s not easy, but if you want to compete, you know, you need it,” he said.
Renedy points to Japan as an example.
“If you go to Japan, they have an Under-19 league which goes for nine months. So our Under-19, we don’t have Under-19 league. Yes, we have Under-17, but how many matches they play? Ten. How many matches they play? Five. And in how many days will it finish? In one month’s time. And what about the rest of the 11 months?”
The same problem, he feels, exists at the state level.
“If you go anywhere now and ask, do you have an Under-15 league? Yes, Under-15 league finishes in 15 or 20 days, or in a month’s time. What about the 11 months?”
“Assam or Manipur, they have a league, but for how many days? One month.”
Renedy also believes Indian footballers are often judged unfairly when results are compared with countries such as Japan, without examining the development structure behind those teams.
“Normal people will not understand. They will say, ‘Japan ke saath kitna haar gaya? Five goal haar gaya.’ But people are not ready to see what Japan is doing behind the scene, how many matches the boys are playing behind the scene,” he said.
“Nobody is ready to see that, and they don’t have time. People will not have time.”
Eight players from Renedy’s academy
Renedy’s argument comes from personal experience. After retiring from professional football in 2015, he started Renedy Football School in 2017. Around two-and-a-half years later, it became Classic Football Academy.
Eight players he has worked with since those early days are now part of India’s U-20 setup.
“I have eight players which I have worked with them since 2017, when I opened Renedy Football School. When I opened Renedy Football School, after two and a half years, it turned into Classic Football Academy, but it started from Renedy. We just changed the name,” he said.
“At one point, it was even more — nine or ten of them.”
For the former midfielder, seeing those youngsters reach the national team is deeply satisfying.
“When you work with such players, and you know, I feel happy to see that eight players in the national team, from one player initially,” he said.
“When you know what they want, where they come from, what’s their vision, what are their dreams — how does it feel now when you see them?”
“I do feel good,” Renedy said.
His own football journey began at an equally young age. He joined Tata Football Academy at 10½, while studying in Class V, leaving Manipur for the academy. He spent seven years there before embarking on a 19-year professional career.
“When I started an academy, you know, after spending 19 years in professional football clubs, and before that seven years in TFA… I joined Tata Football Academy at the age of ten and a half, when I was studying in Class 5. That’s when I left Manipur for Tata Football Academy.”
“Tata has given me everything. Whatever I am today, you know, a lot of things is because of Tata Football.”
‘It’s not a four-year or five-year plan’
Renedy believes India must also stop waking up to its sporting shortcomings only during the Olympics or FIFA World Cup.
“It’s always during the World Cup, the FIFA World Cup, suddenly, you know, or maybe in Olympics, during Olympics, that people suddenly wake up. Why are we not having a lot of medals in Olympics? Why are we not playing in the FIFA World Cup?”
His answer is a long-term approach — one that begins with children, continues through academies and leagues, and gives players a platform to compete consistently.
“So it’s not just about a four-year or a five-year plan. It’s about long-term, you know, having plans and policies and polishing the younger generation.”
“And then create a platform for them to play,” he said.
For Renedy, the equation is simple: create the sporting culture, provide quality coaching and education, and most importantly, let young players play regularly — not for one month, but throughout the year.
