Mumbai: PIFA recently concluded their 2nd PIFA All Centre Tournament (PACT) on Sunday 16th January. The event which was held at St.Andrew’s, Bandra attracted over 25 teams and over 250 children who participated in 4 age groups – U-8, U-11, U-14 and U-17. In the U-8 category, the Tigers ran out winners defeating the Cheetahs in the process. Prakhar Goel was adjudjed to be the best player in this age group with Riday Khandke and Vedant Joshi picking up the Fair Player and Most Improved player awards. Zal Colabawala, Zaid Chaitwala and Mariam Mozayan were identified as Promising Players.

Team Brazil won the U-11 age group aptly defeating team Argentina with Aryanaah Tara collecting the Best Player award. Neil Kapadia was given the Fair Player and Rahil Parekh the Most Improved award. Promising Players of this category were Suyog Maktekar, Samruddh Shetgaonkar and Devansh Gupta. The U-14 age group saw Arsenal running away with the title with Barcelona in 2nd place. Sunny won the Best Player award, Raj Mehta the Fair Player and Pranay Shroff the Most Improved. Raul Soonawala, Adit and Ashay were identified as Promising Players. The top age category of U-17 saw another team Arsenal win the title defeating their arch rivals in real life Spurs in the final. Yash Advani picked up the Best Player Award. Nimesh Solanki managed to win Fair Player with Rehan chosen as Most Improved. Devansh Vyas, Shiv and Ishaan Khan were Promosing Players in the age group.

The 4 winning team in their respective categories were as follows:

U-8: Tigers

1. Prakhar Goel

2. Avya Kothari

3. Arnav Talreja

4. Jordan Noronha

U-11: Brazil

1. Krishiv Makhija

2. Divyam Agarwal

3. Rohan Vora

4. Param Shah

5. vidur Mishra

U-14: Arsenal

1. Kush Shah

2. Aryaman Parekh

3. Aryaman M

4. Vedant J

5. Shanay M

U-17: Arsenal

1. Yash Advani

2. Devansh Daswani

3. Nikunj Rele

4. Bhumitra Gomes

5. Joshua Almeida

The event was a roaring success as evidenced by the fun and excitement both pre-event and during the course of the day and everyone involved had a great day out with some excellent football and well deserved winners. Nike sponsored the prizes and the footballs at this year’s event. Premier India Football Academy aims to make the student a better player using the latest international training methods. Each age group have a specialized method of training in a fun environement. The Academy has UEFA licensed coach as well as AFC licensed coaches. The sessions are an hour of high intensity training with technical work. Each session will focus on one aspect of the game such as Passing, Shooting, Control, Dribbling etc. Children are encouraged to develop their skills and to enhance their ability to their advantage. Adapting to different game conditions & make quick decisions. Mini games help children to cope in competitive match situation & build their confidence. The importance of warming up & cooling down, nutrition, match day anxieties are discussed.

PIFA annually conducts skills test and inter center football tournaments for the students. Academy children are eligible to play for the PIFA teams in the Elite, First & Fourth Division of the MDFA league. Children learn to motivate each other and be a team-player. Children will learn to THINK !!!