Motive is football development in India: Chelsea academy

New Delhi: Chelsea FC College Academy head coach Julian Hart says their main aim was to develop football in India and instill in the country`s young talent passion about the sport.

Hart was speaking after the football club`s three-day clinic came to an end. "Our main motive here is development of football. It is about bringing out the passion in them to take football seriously," Hart said. "We wanted to interact with as many children as possible to point them in the right direction." Hart said it was important to have football-based schools. "It`s very important to have education and football-based schools, so that children can do academics and sport side by side. If a player shows exceptional talent then it`s the school`s duty to nurture that talent," said Hart. The clinic, held from May 31-June 2, was preceded by a two-day scouting camp on May 25-26 at the Modern School. Close to 400 kids from leading schools in the city attended the camp at the Ambedkar Stadium here. The scouting camp yielded 180 of the best footballing talent from the city to be coached by the Chelsea youth coaches. PTI