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FC Pune City’s two breakout stars throw light on the club’s famed academy
Within the last twelve months, the two youngsters have broken into the first team and are now looking to cement their spot in the senior team for season five of the ISL
FC Pune City, established in 2014, was built on one primary pillar of developing youth and four years since its inception, the progress it has made is evident. During times of adversity, ISL head coaches are often seen turning to their academy players that have impressed at the junior level to fill the shoes of an absentee from the first team, and the Maratha Stallions, through their state of the art infrastructure are doing exactly that to offer a plethora of younger options to bank upon whenever the chips are down.
Two of their academy players – Sahil Panwar and Jakob Vanlalhlimpuia – spoke exclusively to Hindustan Times explaining the impact the club’s academy has had on their respective careers. Within the last twelve months, the two youngsters have broken into the first team and are now looking to cement their spot in the senior team for season five of the ISL.
“The FCPC academy has been great. The staff, the management and the coaches have all been very helpful too all of us. They’ve moulded us into better players and I am thankful for that. Our club pays a lot of attention to youth development and as you can see a lot of the academy players are now taking the step up to represent the first team,” said Panwar, speaking in glowing terms of the club’s academy.
The left back was thrown into the playing eleven for the Maratha Stallions’ away game against Chennaiyin on the 13th of January last season, and put in a solid performance, playing the entire 90 minutes of the contest. Wearing the number 36 on his back, the 18-year-old was a joy to watch as he offered much needed width to his side and made some telling contributions on the defensive front as well.
Panwar was undoubtedly delighted to make his first senior appearance for the club and shared the surreal moment with Hindustan Times. “I was very excited going into the game as it was the first ISL game of my life. I knew that I was only going to get one opportunity to make a good first impression and I felt that my hard work paid off. Overall, I think I was pleased with my performance.”
Jakob then joined in the conversation to share his experiences at the FC Pune City academy. He was signed by the Pune outfit as the club had a tie-up with Chanmari FC that helped them in scouting raw talent form the North-Eastern states. Despite being from Mizoram, he decided that a move to the Stallions would be ideal for him to take his career to the next level and so far he has enjoyed every moment he’s spent at the club.
“FCPC is the right club for me and I’m loving my time here. In terms of development I think they’re doing a very good job and I’m focused on playing well for my club. So when the offer to join them came my way, there was no way I was turning them down.”
Behind the success of every player is the number of coaches that are working on him day in and day out, targeting his strengths and weaknesses and constantly polishing his skills to make him a better individual. Jakob certainly hasn’t forgotten how important a role they’ve played in making him the footballer he is today, and was full of gratitude for them.
He said, “The coaches here love me and I love them. They’ve taken me under their wing and mentored me since I’ve been at the club. They’re extremely professional and know exactly what it takes to become a footballer at the top level and I wouldn’t have improved the way I have without them.”
