United Poona Sports Academy (UPSA) was founded in 1995 by Vinay Murgod with the sole objective of bringing the beautiful game of football to the underprivileged kids.
He started this academy with boys and girls who were recruited for training from the slums of Pandavnagar and Wadharwadi near Fergusson College between the age group of 5-18 years.
The idea of starting the academy came about when one of his practice sessions with his existing students were disrupted by the slum kids who ran away with the ball. At the start, it was the sisters of the boy’s team that came for training as they had no other recreational activities but as the awareness spread, more and more kids joined the academy and soon a team was formed.
The women’s team did Murgod proud when they won the Pune District Football Association (PDFA) senior women’s football league 2018 beating FC Pune City 2-0 in the final. “We wanted to introduce a beyond football concept for the girls. We also make them realise the different roles they are going to play in their lives.
We focused on working on our own weaknesses, be it psychological, physiological or any family problems.
{{/usCountry}}We focused on working on our own weaknesses, be it psychological, physiological or any family problems.
{{/usCountry}}Our holistic soccer approach teaches our kids to be better individuals in society along with making them fine footballers for the next generation, ” says Vinay Murged . Vinay Murgod is the founder of the United Poona Sports Academy (UPSA). He’s been a passionate footballer since a kid and went to represent Maharashtra on several occasions. However, due to multiple injuries he suffered, he was forced to forego his playing career and he ventured into coaching. He has also done his Union of European Football Association (UEFA) coaching course from Scotland with Scottish Football Association and came back to India to promote the sport.
There was a lack of awareness on this side of the world as the youngsters did not know the concept of bibs and training cones and he wanted to change the perception of people that football was a solely a sport that had 20 people running behind the ball with two players in goal.
High-octane game
It’s not every day when the young boys and girls are treated to get a training session with a former Indian player but they all had their dreams come true on Saturday evening when India women’s team attacker Ngangom Bala Devi kitted up and joined the UPSA academy training.
The 29-year-old began the evening interacting with the kids, who were undoubtedly delighted to see her at the NCL football ground in Pashan.
After greeting all the players, Devi quickly got into the business and began teaching everyone the importance of first touch and ball control.
Discussing her experience at the training pitch, Devi said, “It was a great moment to interact with the fans and teach them a few new things while I also saw some of their skills they possessed. I think UPSA is doing a fine job at polishing young players for so many years.”
After taking a few fitness drills, the moment that everyone was waiting for was when she stepped on to the pitch to join the girls’ team in a match against the boys’.
It was an exhilarating and high-octane game that saw both sides go for it. The girls’ team saw the lion’s share of the ball but failed to make the most of their chances as they ended up losing 3-1. Devi managed to register her name on the scoresheet and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of football both the teams played.