After retiring from football, Subrata Paul did not turn to coaching. Instead, India’s ‘Spiderman’ has taken on the role of an administrator and organiser. Alongside serving as the Director of the Indian football team, he has opened his own academy, SP One Academy, in Sodepur.
Through this academy, the former goalkeeper has been working over the past three months to identify young talent at the grassroots level across North 24 Parganas, through the Reliance Youth Football Tournament. Around forty football coaching camps from the district participated in the event.
Children competed in the under-7, under-9, and under-11 categories together, while boys and girls had separate teams in the under-13 category. The tournament concluded on Sunday.
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The champions and runners-up across categories were: Khudiram Bose Academy and Bidhannagar Municipal Sports Academy (U-7), Halisahar Pabontola and Milonnagar Adarsha Sangha (U-9), United Sports and Halisahar Pabontola (U-11), SP One Foundation and United Sports (U-13 girls), and Panihati Fashion FC and Adamas United SA (U-13 boys).
Subrata said, “I spotted some incredible young talent in this tournament. But without support from IFA or AIFF, it’s difficult for me alone to help them grow. Still, I’ll try to keep giving them such platforms in the future.”
