Kolkata: International soccer icon Ronaldinho on Monday inaugurated the R10 Academy at Merlin Rise — the Sports Republic in Rajarhat, Kolkata.
The academy is a global initiative undertaken by Ronaldinho to impart quality training in football to kids. In collaboration with Merlin Group, the academy aims to nurture football talent in West Bengal. This is the only Ronaldinho Football Academy in India, out of the ten academies established worldwide by him. Merlin Rise – the sports republic is a sports city being developed by the Merlin Group.
Ronaldinho, along with Sushil Mohta, chairman, Merlin Group, presented scholarships for one year and financial assistance to 10 female footballers under 14, in line with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s commitment towards empowering women in sports.
These footballers from the remote areas of Jangalmahal and the Sundarbans area are trained in Salboni Jagaran Football Academy and the Sundarban Nursery Football Coaching Centre. Some of them have played in the Calcutta Women’s Football League also known as ‘Kanyashree Cup’.
“We are delighted that the soccer icon himself is in the R10 academy at Merlin Rise today to inspire the little kids and students of his academy.
We at the Merlin Group announced the launch of a sprawling Greenfield sports city in Rajarhat christened Merlin Rise – The Sports Republic in the year 2021 with academies by global sports icons Ronaldinho, Michael Phelps, Yuvraj Singh and Tiger Shroff in the field of football, swimming, cricket and martial art, respectively. The R10 Academy started its training in August 2022. We are hopeful the football Academy by Ronaldinho would uplift the standard of the state football,” said Saket Mohta, MD, Merlin Group.
The sports city by the Merlin group offers state-of-the-art infrastructure for global-level soccer training, including a fully astro-turf football ground, dressing rooms, and nationally trained coaches. It houses a football all-weather ground. World-class training is being imparted by the coaches of The R10 Academy of Ronaldinho. The sports city also has indoor nets/pitches to practise during bad weather and 2 outdoor pitches on the field with all the updated equipment.
The academy trains 100 students aged 5 to 17 under the guidance of expert coaches selected by the Global R10 Academy. It follows global training standards laid down by the academy headquarters in Brazil.
At present, students of the R10 Academy at Merlin Rise, Kolkata have played in IFA Nursery Football League (Under 12) and IFA Kolkata Football League (Under 15 & 16) this year and have scored successfully there.