Until the evolution of artificial intelligence, young footballers used to be discovered through scouting by experienced talent spotters and managers from across the country before the pandemic. The talent seekers and managers used to take notes and visit games to get the best out of it. However, this process was good as it delivered results. However, after the evolution of AI, programs like Reliance Foundation’s Young Champs (RFYC) have replaced the scouting process. Have you heard before about Reliance Foundation’s Young Champs? If not, this article will tell you everything that you should know about it. Kindly stick with this column and go through this article till the end. Drag down the page.
The program, Reliance Foundation’s Young Champs, is said to be using the talent discovery platform of ai.io, a UK-based talent discovery program for amateur players, to produce a goal that lets Indian Football emerge the winner. Earlier, Reliance Foundation’s Young Champs saw the work the company had done with Burnley Football Club, a Premier League Club. Meanwhile, “RFYC put out an advertisement to the players on WhatsApp. To our surprise, within the first couple of months, 7,000 players downloaded the app. Swipe down the page and read more details.
The coaches and scouting teams of the clubs used the data available in the control center. After the pandemic, the coaches started calling the players to the camp. RFYC was able to select 400 players from the 7,000 who signed up, thanks to the ai.io scouting app. What it also did was shield the teenage talents from unnecessary pressures and trials. Reliance Foundation Young Champs also added, “It now has evolved to become a four-stage process, taking away the high-pressure single trial system which put pressure on the players especially. The scouts attend an induction program each season and are briefed on what to look for in a player while scouting. They have access to all the training sessions and games during this program,”
However, Felton Thomas added that ai.io’s aim is not to diminish the scouts and coaches but a platform to enable locally connected communities and their leaders to focus on talent by separating wheat from the chaff. Furthermore, Thomas used an example of one such child who downloaded the app on a phone he shared with others in the family, his data from drills and other technical aspects through which ai.io. determined his talent and his right role in the team.