Three top Spanish clubs partner with La Liga football schools

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La Liga's flagship programme in India, LaLiga Football Schools will see direct involvement from three LaLiga clubs - Sevilla FC, Real Betis and Celta de Vigo. The Football Schools projects in Pune (Turf Up), Bangalore (Tiento) and Noida (Pathways School) will be adopted by the clubs. The association will include the involvement of the clubs in the organisation of training programmes for the coaches, training kits of the participant students and more engagement opportunities for the students like giveaways and merchandising.

The LaLiga Football Schools programme was launched in India in 2018 with the aim of grassroots development of the sport in the country. Top LaLiga clubs are now joining hands with LaLiga and investing into the future talent in this country by hosting select LaLiga Football Schools programmes in three cities in India. The project, with 30+ centres across 14 cities in India, has seen participation from over 10,000 Indian students so far. The participation of the LaLiga clubs will help provide further technical assistance to the coaches and subsequently, the aspiring footballers in the country.

To provide a more holistic experience and increased exposure to the top-performing students from the programme, LaLiga recently announced the LaLiga Football Schools Scholarship, the winners of which would get an opportunity to train in Spain. This year, four students will be training with LaLiga club, CD Leganes for two weeks as a part of this initiative. LaLiga Football Schools also conducted a unique ‘Train the Trainer' programme to provide guidance to the Indian coaches.

Jose Antonio Cachaza, Managing Director, LaLiga India said, "We are committed to this market and the young football aspirants here. Over the past seven months, we have undertaken various initiatives to ensure a lasting impact on the football environment here. The latest project, in association with our best clubs will help provide an immersive experience to the students. We look forward to working with Sevilla FC, Real Betis and Celta de Vigo for a project that's so close to our heart."

D. Germán Arteta, Foundation Director, R.C Celta de Vigo said, "It is a pleasure for RC Celta and its foundation to go hand to hand with LaLiga in a country like India with enormous potential. It is a fascinating challenge, conquering a market with huge possibilities of growth and fits perfectly in the international development plans of RC Celta. It is also a pride to be able to show how we understand football in our club and the importance of sports values, as well as our working methodology which is already a reference in Spain and in many countries around the world."

Jose Castro Carmona, President, Sevilla F.C., said, ""India is a country where Sevilla F.C would like to establish its roots and we are delighted to collaborate with LaLiga for this amazing grassroots project. Sevilla F.C is a club with enormous experience in education and talent development and we are confident in providing the young talent in Pune with the style, values and DNA which characterizes our entity, the same which has taken our team amongst the top eight clubs in Europe according to the UEFA ranking and amongst the most important clubs in the world. We are sure that the kids in Pune will feel motivated and become one of ours and ingrain our essence of being a non-conformist, warrior team and a pursuer of dreams."

Ramon Alarcon, Chief Business Office, Real Betis, "We are pleased to join hands with LaLiga and having the opportunity to work together in Bengaluru for their flagship programme in India. India is one of the important market for football and have enough potential to become one of our key-territories. We are glad to be part of this grassroots' initiative and work with LaLiga in India".

About La Liga
Founded in 1984, LaLiga (Liga de Fútbol Profesional) is a sports association comprising the 42 teams that make up the first and second divisions of professional football in Spain. LaLiga, based in Madrid, is responsible for the LaLiga Santander and LaLiga 123 leagues and the television production, which in the 2016/2017 season reached more than 2.5 billion people globally. The association also has an active foundation and is the world's first professional football league with a league for intellectually challenged footballers: LaLiga Genuine.

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