The Mumbai Knights Football Academy, who emerged victorious at Mumbai Football Association Women’s Premier League 2024-25 by winning all their matches in dominant fashion, owe their success to some solid beach training.
Coach Preetam Mahadik, who was head coach for the Maharashtra boys U-21 beach football team that won the silver medal at the All-India Football Federation-approved Beach Sports Festival in Diu earlier this year, told mid-day about his beach training strategy for the girls. “For a good three months before the league, we underwent some rigorous beach training sessions. The girls worked hard daily — five days of the week — with the sessions getting more intense as the league approached. And their hard work has paid off brilliantly,” said Mahadik.
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Ronnie D’Souza, who was the manager of the Maharashtra beach soccer team alongside Mahadik added: “Running on the sand is a great activity for footballers, and if you can master controlling the ball on sand, it becomes that much easier when you do the same activities on a normal football ground. Preetam made his Mumbai Knights team do the same beach drills that we did with the Maharashtra U-21 boys team. And the results are there for all to see.”
Mumbai Knights won 11 out of 11 games in the MFA Women’s Premier League, scoring a whopping 59 goals and conceding just four.
Pranita Nimkar, named the WPL’s best defender, scored 18 goals while Bhagyashree Dalvi, who was awarded the best forward, netted 14 times.
Some of the country’s top women’s teams have taken note of the Mumbai Knights’ strong performance and one of their central defenders, Priyanka Sujeesh has been signed by IWL outfit East Bengal. The Mumbai Knights are now preparing for the Indian Women’s League 2. Their target is to achieve qualification in the top tier of Indian women`s football — the Indian Women’s League.
