By Joseph Solomon,

AIFF Media Team

NEW DELHI: More often than not Coaches try to refresh things in Football by balancing out the constant pressure of performance under high stress environment leading to mental exhaustion. Yesterday (February 22, 2017) a pleasant surprise awaited the Indian U-17 World Cup Squad when Head Coach of the Indian Senior National Team Stephen Constantine, who is currently training the Indian Colts until February 25, 2017, took the young guns of India, Go Karting.

Stephen Constantine and his support stuff inclusive of Sports Scientist Danny Deigan, Goalkeeping Coach Rogerio Ramos, National Team Assistant Coach Shanmugam Venkatesh and AIFF’s Technical Director Savio Mederia have been working with the Indian Colts from February 20, 2017 and allowed the Colts to blow off some steam yesterday.

“It is always good to take the boys out of their comfort zone and at the same time have some fun. I cannot say who the fastest was but for sure it was a staff member”, Constantine told www.the-aiff.com

In a first for many Players, Go Karting struck a chord with the squad and left all in a jolly mood. “We were pumped up for the training session and then the Coach (Stephen Constantine) told us that we were going for Go Karting”, informed Aniket Jadhav.

And as soon as Constantine spoke, the boys erupted with joy.

“It was a chance for us to do something new and out of the world, blowing off some steam in the process”

“We enjoyed a lot and had fun. I think I drove the fastest lap”, Aniket laughs.

“It was a first for me. I had never done Go Karting and learning something is always great”, said Komal.

“You need to take your mind of Football and sometimes these activities help us a lot to regain our focus while refreshing us”, he added.

Meanwhile, AIFF’s Technical Director Savio Mederia hailed Constantine’s approach and said, “It is imperative for young Footballers to develop in a safe and fun environment. Heaping them with pressure on the pitch can sometimes result in mental fatigue”

“Activities such as this (Go Karting) go a long way in helping a Footballer in balancing out the mental stress”

“We need to understand that they are young and they too want to have fun just like other boys”, he added.