A coaching session at Prakrida.

Soccer, like all team sports require both basic and sophisticated training. We at Prakrida teach concept of game which I may call it grass root coaching. We take U10 and U16 players and decide the drills according to the age group. There is a lot of home work that goes on before coming to the pitch – we device the drills based on theory but our practical application and experience makes it all happen.

Besides age group, our motivation is also parenting children – this also does not mean we keep the tempo light – we have 20 minutes scrimmage in every session to make players understand “street/pickup” soccer games. Both Hemant and I play in Jain college, Indiranagar which have mix of 50 years old playing with 16 years hence academy approach is to train kids to develop their skills with this mindset.

For U10 players we have lot of “games” and fun filled drills. We talk to parents and kids on the field all the time. This also means discipline like all teachers is maintained all the time. We have given timeouts to kids who we saw were disrupting the game and also given appreciation to those who are outperforming their peers.

For U16 kids, we study and keep tab of weakness and strength of each one. Some kids are promoted to play at BFC while others chose a different field position based on their strengths.

Drills are not often repeated and one of the key starting drill is a good warmup. Fitness is more important than playing game. A lot of drills focus on lower body development and bringing the stamina up to survive without running out of breath

Stretching or cool down after the game is mandatory – at our culturally rich yoga background a yoga asana becomes habit for cooling down. A good 10 minutes Surya Namaskara with warrior poses go a long way. Teaching Yoga is free at Prakrida Academy.