Bengaluru football shifts from PSU era to academy-driven growth

Bengaluru's football landscape has undergone a fundamental transformation, moving from the dominance of public sector teams to a system driven by private academies. Saravana Dharaman, Deputy Secretary of the Karnataka State Football Association (KSFA), believes this shift could see the Indian women's team reach the FIFA World Cup before the men's side, given the emerging talent pool. "Much of this success can be attributed to the academy culture that has witnessed a monumental rise over the last decade," he said.

From the 1970s until the early 2000s, Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) defined Bengaluru's football culture. Their teams featured marquee players who served as role models for young enthusiasts. When PSUs stopped recruitment and gradually dissolved their squads, those idols disappeared. Bappaditya Bhattacharjee, founder and director of Roots Football Club, noted this could have triggered a decline in interest. However, other forces kept the sport alive. "A combination of television, the IT boom, schools promoting football, and other factors kept the pulse of the game alive," he explained.

Former PSU players sustained coaching for a time, but the real catalyst for change came from rising demand for structured training. International schools and leading educational institutions, which flourished alongside Bengaluru's IT boom, actively promoted football. Television brought foreign leagues like the English Premier League closer to children. These factors sustained conversations around the sport and spurred its development.

The rise of academies also shifted the socioeconomic profile of players. Bhattacharjee stressed that football was once viewed as a poor person's sport, but after 2000 that perception changed. "Even in educational institutions, football players are seen as the 'cool kids'," he said. Krithya, a manager at a city academy, pointed out that when schools formed teams and held inter-school tournaments, students who missed selection or wanted to learn began enrolling in academies, creating significant demand. When Bhattacharjee started his academy in 2009, Bengaluru had barely two others. Today the city has nearly 70.

📰 Source: The Hindu National