Dhaka, March 5: Developing young players is at the heart of the Bangladesh Football Federation’s development plan till 2020.

The recently launched third phase of football development is expected to build on the last two phases of development since 2008 and launch Bangladesh football beyond 2020.

The core purpose of the plan is to create a pipeline of young players with a view to strengthening the national team.

The plan envisions youth coaches and support at regional grassroots level throughout the districts, sub-districts and divisions.

BFF will select and recruit promising players across age groups from U12-U19. In fact, developing age level players — boys and girls — is the BFF’s main priority for its vision 2020.

Fully appreciating the value of competition in fostering development, BFF has taken up a four-year competition model and structure starting from 2017.

The federation will also work closely with the professional clubs and monitor their youth structures. The best age group players will be recruited from the clubs and taken to short-term or full-time residency programmes.

These players will then be exposed to the best teaching and learning methods to turn them into the next generation of national team players.

The age group players will progress through different phases of development like discover, skill acquisition, game training and performance.

The different phases of development fall into the different classifications — grassroots, elite, youth and women — supplemented by a comprehensive and flexible competition model and calendar.

The federation will continue to work closely with the professional clubs and encourage them to develop their own talent pool beginning with an under 18 team.

Role of coaches:

In an ideal world, no football team could play a game without a qualified coach. The players would then learn to deal with all elements of the game including team-mates, opponents, the officials, rules, weather conditions, the score etc.

Coaches with at least a BFF/AFC certified C level license will be provided at district, sub-district and divisional levels.

Priorities and targets:

Elite Youth/Women Development and its continuation at the U12, U14, U16 and U19 age groups, comprehensive coach education and development structure, youth competition at the BPL/BCL Professional clubs are among the top priorities for 2017 and 2018.