Kolkata: They all have degrees, but unfortunately they are one of the darkest examples of India’s unemployment problem. Even if they manage to get a job somehow, in maximum cases it is nowhere near to their qualifications. They don’t have much options as well. To complete the ‘A’ License degree, one needs to spend one lakh rupees. And if someone wants to go for a Pro License Degree, the expense goes upto seven and a half lakh rupees.
The worrying factor is not the expense to get those degrees, but to get a job after that. The Indian coaches are therefore undergoing a deplorable patch. The majority of the A Licence and Pro Licence holding coaches are now unemployed, sitting back at their places with a hope that things will change someday. At the moment, India have 15 Pro Licensed coaches and almost 180 A Licensed coaches in the country.
Those who are working these days, are too very few in numbers. Such has been the circumstances if it comes in terms of the top licensed coaches in India. Only five I-League clubs like Mumbai FC, Chennai City FC, Churchill Brothers, Shillong Lajong FC and Aizawl FC have Indian Pro-Licensed coaches. The other clubs except Mohun Bagan are dependent on foreign coaches at the moment. The scenario in the ISL is even worse where all eight coaches are foreigners.
Stanley Rozario, the Pro-Licensed coach is now waiting at his house back in Bengaluru. In an interaction with www.xtratime.in , the former Assistant Coach of the National team was saying, “Well, I have nothing to do without waiting for an opportunity. There are very few I-League clubs these days. The foreign coaches are their priorities”..He added, “If the ISL teams give us the job as assistant coaches, many of us will get will get their jobs.”
Noushad Moosa, one of the top players of the 90’s, who invented the long throw ins in Indian football is now Pro-Licensed coach. Right now, he doesn’t have any club and now in charge of the U13 team of the IMG-R Youth Champs programme. Speaking with www.xtratime.in , he also showed his frustration, “Previously, the Goan clubs were there, so the coaches like us had an option. But now, as the clubs have withdrawn, the options have been narrowed down. I was in charge of the U19 I-League team of Pune FC, but now that option has also been faded away.” He explained, “As a player, I was professional, as a coach I remain the same as well. I don’t have the fate like the former footballers in Kolkata who have other professions as well to earn their bread. That is why I have to bank on getting something in the field of coaching.”
Raman Vijayan, the former Indian International, is an “A Licensed” coach and presently associated to ISL franchise Delhi Dynamos FC. He told xtratime.in , “In our time, getting an A License degree was tough. Now-a-days it has become much easier to get an A License. The foreign coaches, who are coming to our country, are coming with their own coaching team. So the Indian coaches are struggling to get a job.” He also has a remedy to solve the issue, he said, “The licensed coaches shouldn’t be thinking to much about taking up the job. Whatever it may be, they should take the job gleefully.”
Satyabrata Bhowmick, former Mohun Bagan player, completed his A License degree in the year 2012. He will be pursuing his Pro License degree soon. “I couldn’t complete it before as my mom got expired. But I will do it soon.” At the same time he becomes a bit concerned about his future as well. He said, “The AIFF should have some specific plans for the licensed coaches in India. The foreign coaches are coming, doing their job and going back. We are not getting any benefit from this practice. There are 15 Pro-Licensed coaches in India but how many of them are having jobs?”.
Santosh Kashyap, one of the pioneers of Pro-Licensed coaches in India is now in charge of Mumbai FC in the I-League. He said, “The State Football Associations should emphasize on bringing new football clubs from different states. We have a huge country and if we can bring new clubs from different corners, we will have more opportunities for the licensed coaches available in India.”
Pushpargha Chatterjee, the License committee head of The AIFF, said, “Everyone is doing something at least, if not there in the I-league. Those Licensed coaches who are still unemployed, can register their names to our AIFF website and we can focus on their availability to the available clubs.
The Pro License or A License is a precious degree for any coach in the world and deserves a dignified job. As per the parent body of Indian football, they are claiming that the licensed coaches are doing “something”. The question is, did the coaches complete their degrees to do “something”? Or, is it the fiasco of the federation to create opportunities for the licensed coaches who are coming to this noble profession with new dreams in their eyes?