Rajat Ghosh Dastidar
Interview ~ ISL Official 14/08/22
Your football journey:
Dastidar: I’m a former national team goalkeeper, but since retirement, I’ve got my
AFC ‘C’ License, and I’m working on my ‘B’ License at the moment. I’m the
goalkeeping coach of ONGC, and I’ve also coached the Bengal under-14 team last year.
Currently, I’m associated with Atletico de Kolkata and trying to work on grassroots
football and youth development with the franchise.
Your team’s focus on grassroots football:
Dastidar: From day 1, we’ve been pretty sure that the Hero Indian Super League is around to do good for Indian football, and in order to do that we have to look at the betterment of grassroots football. We are looking at grassroots development in a big way. Now that we’re having a grassroots workshop in Kolkata, we’re realizing that there is so much to be done yet. We are striving towards that and I’m very hopeful that we will be able to do well with regards to grassroots development.
The benefits of a foreign technical tie-up:
Dastidar: The Atlético Madrid management will provide us with training facilities, coaches and infrastructure, since we will be going to Spain next week. We will be training on the same field as Atletico Madrid players. We will see someone like David Villa training on the same pitch as Cavin Lobo! That’s a big thing! We can’t think of something like that in Indian football. I don’t think anyone has seen such a pre-season for an Indian outfit, ever.
Your grassroots vision:
Dastidar: My basic idea of grassroots football is that I want to attract children to play football. That’s the first and foremost priority. Our target audience are the kids who want to play something but are yet to decide which sport to take up. I want to attract them towards football, and once they come to ATK, we have to make them start loving it. Creating that environment is my first and foremost duty. We have to train them in such a way that they don’t move to any other sport.
Your city’s unique advantages & disadvantages:
Dastidar: If you talk about advantages, we will have a huge pool of players, because football is so popular in West Bengal.
The challenges lie in moving out of Kolkata and looking at talent from all across the state. There are many districts and many towns and villages, so we need to go out, travel, and bring kids from everywhere under the ATK umbrella. I’m pretty sure that we can do it in such a way that no talent is left behind. I’m confident of that. I will be getting a lot of talent to pick from and work with.
Your team’s immediate grassroots plans:
Dastidar: We want to introduce grassroots football to schools and communities in such a way that things become compulsory.
