Over the years, Premier LeagueIndia’s involvement is most clearly linked to youth football – allowing academy teams to compete against Indian youth and providing the experience of an elite football environment. But the league’s latest evolution signals a more structural ambition: to develop talent that shapes the game at a grassroots level.The Premier League’s Next Generation Coaching Programme, which started out as a youth tournament, has expanded into coaching education, with Goa marking its latest intervention. Building on last year’s community coach development program in Mumbai, the league is betting on a simple premise – empowering one coach can have a ripple effect on hundreds of young players.For Premier League India general manager Hrishikesh Shende, the shift is as much about scale as it is about sustainability. After nearly two decades of grassroots work in India, the Premier League now sees local coaching, rather than one-off training sessions, as the most effective way to leave a lasting footprint.extract:Q: Why should we conduct mentoring programs at the grassroots level? I mean, you start with young players and now you’re coaching both. Where did the whole process begin and what was the idea behind it?Shen De: Yes, good question. So, as you said, Next Gen started as a grassroots tournament.But now what we do is basically Next Generation Coaching is basically the amalgamation of the three programs we ran previously, which was Junior Stars, Senior Skills and Community Coach Development. So the experience and lessons learned from all three programs that we have executed in India over the past 18-20 years have now filtered into this iteration, which is the next generation of coaching. So this is a more refined version of what we want to do in terms of upliftment and empowerment of grassroots coaches in India.Why coaching and not competitive action? This is a very delicate issue. Again, it comes down to scale. Ultimately, it is very challenging for us as the Premier League to keep bringing in coaches from abroad and to expand. Having individual sessions with kids alone can only give you so much. However, if your coaches work locally with hundreds or thousands of kids, you have greater scale and greater impact.
The PL Next Generation Coaching Program is held in Goa from May 10 to 13. (Photo: Indian Premier League)
So, that’s why we’ve shifted fundamentally to focus on coach development and grassroots, because it allows us to do two things. One, no matter what, we want to try to improve the level of Indian coaches and the way they communicate with these kids and deliver lessons and lessons and improve their level. Second, it allows us to scale better.As a result, we can have a greater impact on hundreds and thousands of kids through coaching.Q: How are these coaches selected? How does this process work?Shen De: So, essentially, we work with partners, right? So, in this case, we’re working with the Oscar Foundation. Therefore, the OSCAR program has coaches who recommend who is a suitable coach and who would benefit from such a course.So one of them is the local partnerships that we have established and some of the other partnerships that we have. In addition to Next Gen Coach, we also have Dream Sports Championships that we have recently partnered with or are currently supporting.So, at Dream Sports, essentially, our five elite coaches work with the top academies of Premier League clubs. They came here and held multiple meetings with 16 top youth coaches from India who have qualified for the Goa DSE Championship, which is being held in Goa.So, in a sense, they are self-selected because their team automatically advances. Those coaches have the opportunity to benefit from Premier League coaches.
The Indian Premier League organized a community coach development program in Mumbai in October 2025. (Photo: Indian Premier League)
Q: Which cities will host these conferences?Shen De: So, this one is currently in Goa. We also want to try and make it more inclusive. We now hope to expand the program to multiple cities. We held an event in Mumbai in October.Now we are doing it in Goa. The plan is to significantly increase our geographical footprint in the country. But we also need to do it in a responsible way.So when we talk about expanding our footprint in India, we are executing on those plans.Q: How many coaches do you hope to work with or develop? More importantly, how do you define what a successful number is?Shen De: So I think scale is what we think about based on what we’re driving.Ultimately, over the last 18-20 years or so, we’ve had a positive impact on about 7,300 coaches, referees and educators, which has had a positive impact on 125,000 kids. Now, what we want to do is obviously try to increase that number.I think for a country like India, even 10,000, 15,000 coaches is still small. How quickly do we get to that scale is something we have to consider. That’s why these are all about trying to fine-tune our processes, our approach and understand the impact on the market.If we see a lot of demand and coaches are generally benefiting from these courses and workshops, then we’ll obviously want to scale up quickly.So we don’t have a set number to answer your question. I think it depends more on how we’re going to scale it, how effectively we’re scaling it and what the impact is. Therefore, the emphasis is on quality rather than quantity.
The 2026 edition brings together more than 30 OSCAR Foundation coaches and is supported by two Premier League community coaches and two Indian alumni coaches. (Photo: Indian Premier League)
Q: You opened an office in India last year. But this has been around for a long time. Can you reflect on the journey and what you learned?Shen De: The Premier League has been operating in India for the past 18 years. We operate at the grassroots level in about 18 states.What we want to do now, with the office here, the boots on the ground, the team and everything in place, is obviously to show up more consistently and more frequently and have a hands-on approach throughout the season rather than shipping it every six months or every year.This is the fundamental goal. India is an important strategic market for the alliance itself.As part of our long-term commitment to the market, we also want to bring our fans closer to the league. We want to make the league more accessible to Indian fans.So we work closely with our broadcast partners to ensure the broadcast experience is seamless and find activations that allow our fans to come and experience the pure joy, passion and tribalism of the Premier League.Therefore, in addition to grassroots, fan participation and fan development are also a big thing for us.I would say the third part of this whole thing is about football development. This is where strategic partnerships with key stakeholders in Indian football are crucial.The first one we have already announced through the Dream Sports Championship.We want to really play a role in elevating Indian football and through learnings and approaches from the Premier League, any help and support we can provide to the Indian football ecosystem, we want to be able to share.
