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The Women in Sports elite camp kicked off in Kolkata on Monday (6 June), with some of the biggest coaches in women's football turning their attention towards the untapped talent pool in India.
In a first, the six-day camp presents an opportunity for some of the young talents playing in the Indian women's national team and in the Indian Women's League to flaunt their skills in front of international coaches.
Tom Sermanni, head of women's football at Western Sydney Wanderers FC, in an exclusive conversation with Sportskeeda, exclaimed that the skill level of the girls was at a considerably higher level than he had anticipated. Sermanni stated:
"What I saw today was that there is real talent in India. I think the skill level and talent of the players were much higher than I had anticipated. And if this is just a small part of that talent pool, then there's an enormous amount of talent that needs to be harnessed properly to extract the full potential."
The 67-year-old is one of five coaches visiting the country to take part in the camp, organized in partnership with the Football Players' Association of India (FPAI). If the players can impress the coaches then they could land an opportunity to train or even play with either of the five clubs - Western Sydney Wanderers, Rangers FC, Dinamo Zagreb, Marbella FC, and Melbourne Victory.
Meanwhile, Dinamo Zagreb's assistant coach, Mia Medvedovski, who is exclusively in search of some forwards for her club, also spoke to Sportskeeda about the camp and the talent pool. She explained:
"I think some girls are really showing that they are here for business. Since it's the first day, some of them were a bit nervous, but there are still five more days, and let's see how they develop."
Some of the stars of the recently concluded IWL 2021-22 were part of the camp. The likes of Kashmina (Gokulam Kerala FC), Soumya Guguloth (Gokulam Kerala FC), Apurna Narzary (Indian Arrows), and Priyangka Devi Naorem (Indian Arrows) will continue to train here until June 11.
The coaches in unison hope that the players will bring show their true potential, slowly but steadily.
"I put India currently at the Tier 2 level in Asia" - Tom Sermanni on the national team's current standings in the AFC region
Sermanni has served in multiple roles across the globe in women's football. The Scot coached the Australian women's team on multiple occasions and also had a brief stint with the United States women's national team.
Very recently, he was at the helm of the New Zealand side. Hence, it's fair to say, the 67-year-old has seen and been a part of the boom that women's football has experienced recently.
The tactician, in an interaction with Sportskeeda, opined that for India to make a steady progression, the country first needs to be regularly competitive with the likes of the Philippines, Thailand, and Myanmar, whom he placed in the second tier of Asian football.
Sermanni underlined that India cannot opt to skip stages and try to better elite Asian sides like Australia and China before strengthening their base. He explained:
"I would put India currently at the Tier 2 level in Asia. The first tier would include Australia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, and China. In the second tier, we have the Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, and maybe some other teams. This is India's competitive level at the moment and this is where they have to dominate."
Sermanni concluded by saying:
"The big mistake for India would now be to say, we want to beat Australia now. This could be your aim, but first, the national team has to start by beating the second-tier teams."
Hosting camps like the one in Kolkata could very well be the first of innumerable steps the country and football federation need to take to steadily evolve the women's game in India, in the direction that Sermanni pointed out.
