Overview

By five in the evening, a handful of people have already begun warming up beside the football field in Gym-G. Half an hour later, nearly all 25 members of the squad are there, stretching or practising their drills. With BOSM just around the corner, the Boys Football Team is training in full swing.

In addition to their classes, two daily practice sessions in the morning and evening spanning at least a couple of hours each leave the team members with very little time for anything else. While all players follow the same exercise routine, strikers go through their paces with specialised finishing and one-on-one routines, while defenders perform clearance drills. As the fest draws nearer, the intensity of these practice sessions is expected to increase, but will be interspersed with rest days to keep the players’ muscles conditioned.

The entire regime is overseen by an international level coach who arrived mid-way through August. Unlike last year where the coach came for fifteen days, he will stay on until after the fest. Before the arrival of their present coach, both the boys’ and girls’ teams were trained by a domestic level coach, who also runs the Arsenal India training camp. Though their present coach was delayed in his arrival due to the riots in Delhi, the team have managed to make up for lost time and are back on track.

Since this year’s team is very solid defensively, the coach is experimenting by switching to a three-man defence from a conventional four-man one. Although the present tactic is to hold possession in midfield, nothing is certain and strategies may change come BOSM. However, the players are confident of putting up a good show this year and are hopeful of a podium finish.

Past Performance

The boys’ football team managed to place runners-up in BOSM 2016, a significant improvement over the prior edition, where they returned empty-handed. Previously, the team finished second in both IIT-Delhi’s sports fest last semester andand NLU Delhi’s sports fest the year before. The team has clearly had bad luck when it comes to finals – something they hope will change this BOSM.

Recruitments

Trials for the football team, which went on from August 3 to 6, saw dozens of first and second-year students turn up. Eight of these people were shortlisted and five of them have been chosen for the exclusive 25-member practice squad.

The recruitment process includes drills to test passing, receiving, and shooting abilities. Candidates are judged on their technique and elegance. The most important criteria, however, are their game sense and awareness on the field.

The quality of the new recruits has been surprisingly high this year with a couple of them even making it straight to the playing XI. Although a few key players graduated last year, their replacements have more than made up for the loss. The team also encourages people who didn’t get selected to train with them after BOSM and eggs them on to reappear for trials in the future.

Captain’s Interview

Siddharth Kaushal, the captain and central attacking midfielder of the boys’ football team, was sporting a FC Barcelona jersey when the BOSM English Press went to interview him. His eyes lit up as he talked about his life’s greatest passion – football. Hailing from Haryana, Siddharth has been playing the game regularly since the sixth grade. Although he’d have loved to turn professional, the lack of scope and infrastructure within the country forced him to drop the idea.

Siddharth has been enjoying captaincy and expects the team to perform well this BOSM. “This time, we get to practice here at Gym-G instead of having to go to the BPS ground outside like before. We also have an international level coach staying here until the fest is over, who’s helping us to take our game to the next level,” says Siddharth. Although captaining a team is a lot of work, he insists that it has not affected his game. Rather, the role has made him more responsible both on and off the field.

As a fourth year pharmacy student, he does not find it difficult to juggle academics and sports. “It is much more difficult for my juniors as they have a lot more courses to do, although most of them will learn how to strike a balance by their second year,” he says.

The captain was quick to thank the Chief Warden, the Sports in-charges, and the CoSSAc for their continued support. “The Arsenal India training camp would not have taken place without their backing. The camp is sure to go a long way in improving football in BITS and is certain to provide future teams with some excellent players,” he remarked. As Siddharth, who has represented the team since his first year, gets ready to pull up his captain’s armband, his only wish is that the BITSian junta turns up to watch and support the team through the tournament.