A football scout for these socially distanced times

For the last couple of years, Ayush has been preparing to make a case for himself to be selected to train at the Reliance Foundation Young Champs (RFYC) Academy in Navi Mumbai, a fully paid 5-year residential program. For aspiring footballers like him, the academy, with its focus on sports training, academics and holistic development of players, has emerged as a sought-after institution.

Alongside Bengaluru FC, RFYC is one of the two residential academies in India conferred a two-star academy status by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and a 5-star rating by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) academy accreditation process in 2019.

In the past, for aspirants such as Ayush, the pathway to put their hand up for a spot was fairly straight forward. Scouts from RFYC would travel across the country, holding sessions where emerging footballers from the region would converge. The process was exhaustive, starting with scouts selecting players from local regions, followed by coaches from the academy personally monitoring them train and play. Once the best players were identified, they would be invited to Mumbai for a 7-day camp for in-depth evaluations, leading to the final list of players being accepted into the academy.

But the Covid-19 pandemic upended that process. After much deliberation, a solution was found, and the academy aligned with AiSCOUT, a Britain-based company, which has pioneered a technology solution that uses video-based artificial intelligence (AI) to gauge a player’s technique, skill, stamina and overall footballing ability.

The beauty of the process lies in its simplicity.

Using the national rating score (NRS) to quantify a player’s physical performance, AiSCOUT can measure and benchmark performances across various age groups. Once the application is downloaded onto a phone, the player enters their profile details before entering the NRS trials. The trials are designed to measure the core physical competencies, measuring attributes such as speed, power, strength, muscular endurance and coordination.

Once this is complete, the virtual trials ‘unlock,’ which then allows them to choose the RFYC trials. These can include aspects such as passing, dribbling and shooting. The NRS, coupled with organisation specific drills and exercises, helps scouts to score and rate players, all done remotely, overcoming the hurdles created by the pandemic.

‘The AiSCOUT platform has been a big help to us in this difficult year,’ says Steve Charles, head of scouting at RFYC. ‘Not only has it allowed us to conduct scouting remotely, it has also given us access to regions we previously were unable to reach.”

In Britain, where the platform was used initially, early indicators point to the success of the model. More than 18,000 users aged 8-23 participated, and have received analysis and feedback this year. Several Premier League as well as Championship (First Division) clubs have taken to the platform.

Players are already starting to earn selection on the basis of the scouting method.

The Football Associations of Australia and Sweden have reviewed players, and Sri Lanka have called up players on the basis of AiSCOUT trials. The alliance with RFYC allows the platform to test its viability in a new territory.

‘For us, the opportunity to work with the RFYC Academy is incredible,’ says Richard Felton Thomas, COO, AiSCOUT. ‘As an organisation, they have a fantastic track record at developing talented players and securing pathways into professional football. Our role is to help them reach and analyse more players than they have ever been able to before. We both hope and expect to find some exceptionally gifted young individuals that are just waiting to be seen.’

Thomas explains further: ‘For clubs, it lowers recruitment costs while expanding reach and generating complete, data-driven profiles of prospective players. The tool does not seek to replace the football recruitment professionals. It seeks to leverage their capability and make them more effective.’

At RFYC, nine of whose graduates from the first batch of 10 students last year earned professional contracts with Indian Super League (ISL) clubs, a solution has been found through AiSCOUT to find new talent despite Covid restrictions. Dreams of determined and talented kids like Ayush Nellogi remain very much kicking and alive.