Premier League NEXTGEN Initiative Expands Grassroots Mentorship to Transform Young Lives Beyond Football Pitches

Partnering with OSCAR Foundation, the Premier League NEXTGEN Coach Programme is equipping Indian grassroots coaches with essential mentorship skills to foster community development and empower youth.

While football matches are traditionally evaluated through the narrow lens of ninety minutes and final scorelines, certain initiatives create an enduring resonance far beyond the boundary lines. Across India, the evolving concept of a community coach is redefining how sports interact with society, placing youth empowerment, education, and inspiration at the very center of athletic training. The Premier League NEXTGEN Coach Programme embodies this philosophy by treating grassroots coaching not merely as an exercise in tactical drills, but as a dedicated pathway to elevate and strengthen the vulnerable communities these mentors serve.

Reframing Coaches into Holistic Youth Mentors
Rather than confining instructions to standard ball control or match tactics, this dedicated coaching curriculum focuses on shaping sports instructors into holistic mentors. The overarching objective is to equip them with the behavioral tools needed to nurture self-belief, mental fortitude, and progressive life values among young trainees alongside their physical skills. By learning to view each child as an evolving human being rather than simply a player on a pitch, grassroots coaches are positioned to address the broader social and emotional realities of their students, transforming routine training sessions into meaningful developmental experiences.

Two Decades of Grassroots Engagement Across the Country
The footprint of the Premier League in the Indian sports landscape spans nearly two decades, having commenced in 2007 with the launch of the Premier Skills initiative. Over the subsequent years, this sustained effort has touched traditional football hubs as well as expanding sporting regions, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Goa, along with southern and eastern hubs across Kerala, Karnataka, Odisha, and Tamil Nadu.

A notable milestone within this developmental journey occurred in Mumbai with the launch of a tailored football project designed explicitly for children with disabilities, reinforcing the commitment to inclusive play. Cumulatively, these initiatives have extended across 18 states, directly integrating more than 7,500 coaches, referees, and physical education teachers into structured development networks. Through their direct efforts, over 1.64 lakh young participants have engaged with structured sports and developmental programming.

Upcoming Mumbai Edition Builds on Foundations Laid in Goa
The next phase of the NEXTGEN itinerary is scheduled to unfold in Mumbai this October. Conducted in close partnership with the OSCAR Foundation, the programme builds directly upon the inaugural edition staged in Goa during May 2026. That introductory workshop brought together more than 30 local grassroots coaches, offering them intensive exposure to practical methodologies curated by international community coaches from the Premier League alongside respected Indian coach educators. The upcoming Mumbai edition aims to scale these foundational principles across a fresh cohort of local trainers.

Expert Educators Merging Sporting Excellence and Life Values
Driving the curriculum for this edition are coach educators Kirti Kashyap and Narinder Tokas, both of whom contribute deep domain expertise forged through distinct professional trajectories. Despite their varied backgrounds, both educators are anchored by the shared conviction that football serves as an exceptional instrument for driving widespread social transformation.

Holding an AFC 'B' coaching licence, Kirti Kashyap has assembled extensive experience spanning youth football administration, coach education, and sports-led learning methodologies. Her professional coaching record includes guiding the Delhi U17 girls squad as well as working within the youth setups of Indian Super League (ISL) clubs Delhi Dynamos FC and Odisha FC. Kashyap's own professional trajectory stands as clear evidence of how sports instruction can transcend conventional match training. Her coaching journey gained momentum after enrolling in the Premier Skills programme organized alongside the British Council and the Premier League, an initiative specifically conceived to equip local trainers and referees to run open, accessible community football projects.

For Narinder Tokas, coaching has similarly represented far more than the dissemination of athletic techniques. Backed by a career exceeding 18 years across physical education, athletic conditioning, and sports leadership, Tokas centers his professional philosophy on constructing environments where young learners feel fully secure, valued, and confident enough to express their individual potential. He maintains that every child deserves an inherently constructive and purposeful experience through sport.

To put this philosophy into daily practice, Tokas integrates the STEPS and SMILES frameworks acquired through the Premier League coach education syllabus. These pedagogical concepts prompt coaches to look past repetitive drills and deliberately plan session delivery so that every activity remains secure, inclusive, engaging, and focused on genuine learning outcomes. Tokas has systematically disseminated these practical teaching tools to fellow instructors across schools and community sports setups. For both Kashyap and Tokas, the NEXTGEN curriculum operates as far more than an ordinary seminar, serving instead as a dynamic forum to exchange strategic knowledge that can filter down into classrooms and marginalized neighborhoods.

The Critical Value of Direct Investment in Grassroots Mentors
The architectural premise of the Premier League NEXTGEN Coach Programme rests on the understanding that sustainable athletic growth begins from the bottom up. At the core of this initiative is the recognition that knowledge must never remain trapped with the individual attending the seminar. By elevating the pedagogical and leadership capacities of community coaches, the programme generates a multiplying effect across grassroots infrastructure.

Working shoulder to shoulder with the OSCAR Foundation, the initiative supplies instructors with tangible, field-tested toolkits that can be adapted to their specific local environments and shared with regional peers. NEXTGEN deliberately departs from conventional instruction by directing sustained focus toward clear communication, leadership presence, player welfare, and active community outreach. By building upon the lessons gathered from the 30 coaches who participated in the May 2026 Goa workshop under international and domestic experts, the initiative continues to demonstrate how strategic investment in mentors directly elevates the lived experiences of young participants nationwide.

What this means for you
This grassroots coaching initiative directly enhances how community sports mentors support youth development, safety, and personal confidence across local neighborhoods.

• Across India: With more than 7,500 coaches and educators trained across 18 states, over 1.64 lakh children are gaining access to structured and secure sporting environments. This widespread network ensures that sports education transcends urban boundaries to positively impact underprivileged youth nationwide.
• In Mumbai: The upcoming training module scheduled for October provides local community instructors with direct exposure to elite global training standards. Furthermore, dedicated initiatives tailored for children with disabilities in the city continue to foster meaningful inclusive participation.
• For Parents and Young Participants: Families benefit as local trainers are equipped to cultivate life skills and self-expression alongside traditional athletic training. This dynamic ensures that children experience an encouraging and emotionally secure environment whenever they step onto the field.
• For Grassroots Coaches: Local instructors gain access to structured pedagogical frameworks like STEPS and SMILES without financial barriers. Mastering these methodologies enables them to upgrade their instructional delivery and build sustainable youth programs in their home communities.

Why this happened
A persistent gap in conventional Indian sports instruction has been the disproportionate focus on competitive drills at the expense of holistic youth mentorship and safe learning spaces. Recognizing this structural void, the Premier League and OSCAR Foundation designed this initiative to equip grassroots trainers with modern, inclusive pedagogical tools.

• Limitations of Traditional Coaching: Conventional coaching routines predominantly prioritized technical tactics and match results while overlooking social well-being and emotional development. Introducing modern frameworks became essential to ensure that coaches actively care for a child's holistic growth.
• Two Decades of Established Fieldwork: The sustained engagement of the Premier Skills initiative since 2007 demonstrated that empowering local trainers creates an enduring ripple effect across communities. That extensive operational groundwork directly enabled the launch of the specialized NEXTGEN framework.
• Demand for Inclusive Sporting Spaces: Ensuring that sports remain genuinely accessible to marginalized groups and children with disabilities required mentors skilled in empathetic communication. Developing structured methodologies like STEPS and SMILES directly addressed this practical coaching challenge.

Questions & Answers

1. What is the Premier League NEXTGEN Coach Programme?
It is a grassroots initiative designed to train Indian football coaches as holistic youth mentors who foster personal confidence and community development alongside athletic skills.

2. When and where is the next edition of NEXTGEN taking place?
The upcoming edition of the programme is scheduled to be held in Mumbai during the month of October.

3. When and where was the inaugural edition of the programme staged?
The first edition took place in Goa during May 2026, featuring over 30 coaches trained by international and Indian coach educators.

4. Who are the key coach educators leading the sessions in this programme?
The sessions are guided by AFC 'B' licence coach Kirti Kashyap and veteran sports educator Narinder Tokas, who brings over 18 years of professional experience.

5. How many individuals and states have been reached through these initiatives in India?
The broader initiative has engaged over 7,500 coaches, referees, and educators across 18 states, directly impacting more than 1.64 lakh young people.

6. Which specific coaching frameworks does Narinder Tokas integrate into his training?
He incorporates the STEPS and SMILES frameworks to ensure training sessions remain secure, inclusive, enjoyable, and focused on clear learning objectives.

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