ABSA News :: Ajit Braich Soccer Academy

INDO-CANADIAN SOCCER CLUBS MUST STRIVE TO WORK TOGETHER FOR BENEFIT OF KIDS AND PLAYERS

By RATTAN MALL
www.thevoiceonline.com

Ajit Braich gave up his career as an electrical engineer with the British government to coach kids in the Lower Mainland - all for the love of soccer.

Ajit, who has just been re-appointed as a coach by the Vancouver Whitecaps and B.C. Soccer Association in the Super Y-League and will be head coach for the U-13 Girls for Coastal WFC this year, told The VOICE this week: "I think we've got to strive for more Indo-Canadian clubs to work together for the benefit of the children and the players."

Asked how Indo-Canadians had progressed in soccer since the 1990s when he started coaching here, Ajit said: "I think there's a huge increase in participation which is ultimately the number 1 (goal). And the next best thing is the number of girls that are now involved because of our background of girls not playing soccer. And on a personal note, I do coach girls, so I think that's a great thing for me personally."

Ajit pointed out that "the coaching level has drastically improved within the Indo-Canadian clubs."

He added that it would be a great step forward if all these coaches could be certified formally under the Canadian Soccer Association education program.

Ajit, who himself is an 'A' advanced licence certified coach, said: "I think there're a lot of good coaches. … If you can get the formal education, it just has a lot more credibility; so people can say 'well, they've got the formal education as well.'"

Addressing the youth, Ajit said: "I think there's great opportunities out there if you can do your research on the coaching and the program. Two ultimate goals for me are: Number 1 is to keep the players in the game and away from drugs and all the negativity that's out there. Two, for the keener or better players, it's a great avenue for scholarships through local colleges and universities."

He said he was looking for local Indo-Canadian clubs to send players, both boys and girls, to the Y-League program.

Ajit started coming here in the early 1990s to visit his brother, Bindy Braich, who himself is now well-known in soccer.

He said: "I used to come here on holiday, trying to get into the game, and a club here asked me do some program while I was here and that led me to coming here in a soccer job fulltime."

Ajit became a part-time coach for the Whitecaps "just doing some little programs for them." Then Bob Lenarduzzi asked him if he would be prepared to go fulltime as head coach of youth player development for three years with the Whitecaps in the late 1990s.

Also, Ajit was head coach for the province for U-14 and U-15 girls. And for the last seven years, he's been head coach for three local clubs.

In fact, he runs the Ajit Braich soccer academy on behalf of the three clubs that he works for. He said: "We would certainly encourage (any club that) would want to set up a formal program to come forward and we would help them in any way. We were approached by an Indo-Canadian girls club last year. In an ideal world, (we would have) a similar sort of academy or centre of excellence set up for the Indo-Canadian players in the spring and summer. It would be run on behalf of Indo-Canadian clubs if we could get that togetherness together."

Well, you never know, for things are looking up for Indo-Canadian soccer players, coaches and teams.