Palava, September 23, 2014: Football fever is back with India’s biggest Football extravaganza, the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) beginning on 12th October. In a run up to ISL, the Mumbai City FC team as part of their community outreach program visited Palava, the City of Opportunity.
Promoted by Ranbir Kapoor and Bimal Parekh, the team boasts of international stars and top domestic talent. Ex-Arsenal legend and former captain of the Swedish National team, Freddie Ljungberg, former French National team player and winner of the Premier League Golden Boot 2008-2009, Nicolas Anelka, ex-Borussia Dortmund defender and German National team player, Manuel Friedrich, Argentinean Diego Nadaya and the current Indian National team goalkeeper, Subrata Pal form the nucleus of this star studded team headed by the ex-Everton icon Peter Reid as manager.
The squad spent the entire Saturday at Palava beginning with a special workshop and training session for 60 kids conducted at the state of the art football ground by Assistant Coach, Steve Darby, an ESPN Star Sports pundit and most recently the head coach of Kelantan FA in the Malaysia Super League. The children were thrilled to train and interact with their idols, taking autographs and clicking pictures with the stars.
Following the training, the players spent a relaxing day at Palava with a round of Golf at the serene 9-hole golf course by the river.
Steve Darby, Assistant Coach – Mumbai City FC, said: “Kids in Mumbai have tremendous enthusiasm for football, and now at Palava, they have a great football facility where they can hone their skills and achieve excellence. This has been a wonderful opportunity for Mumbai City FC to connect with its fans and we look forward to many more such engaging interactions.”
Shaishav Dharia, Development Director, Palava said: “We are tremendously pleased to host Mumbai City FC at Palava and give young enthusiasts the opportunity to meet and train with the stars. This is another step in our endeavour to not just provide world class sports facilities, but create platforms that enhance skills and create special experiences for our residents.”
Not only do footballers at Palava get to play on a FIFA standard artificial turf, football training from experienced professionals guarantees young players are nurtured to reach their full potential. While this session offered yet another platform to the football enthusiasts at Palava to develop their technical skills, it also further stoked their passion for the game, encouraging them to become the best players they possibly can.
Palava aims to cultivate a culture of sports, fitness and healthy living within the community. This is in keeping with Palava’s commitment towards a better quality lifestyle and the vision for a broad spectrum of sports to be accessible to all, not only through high quality infrastructure but also high quality training, enabling people to maximise their potential. This initiative is one of many that the Palava City Management Association is facilitating to bring great opportunities to Palava’s citizens for a rich and varied life. CCI Newswire
