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15 Dec 2017

Dia P. Mehta among Four Mumbai Students Selected for Football Coaching in London

Dia Mehta

Twelve year old Dia Mehta, a Grade 7 student at Bombay International School (BIS) is one of the four students, including two girls, from the city selected to attend a 10 day coaching camp to be conducted by the Queens Park Rangers in London. The selection was announced at the finals of the Mumbai Soccer Challenge tournament in the presence of London Mayor Sadiq Khan and former Union minister and Congress leader Milind Deora. Dia is the daughter of Pooja and Pranav Rajesh Mehta.

With dignitaries

The four young footballers – Dia Mehta, Nirlaja Sharma, Momin Ammar and Vivek Roy – were chosen from thousands of competitors who took part in the soccer challenge.

Selectors silently watched the matches at the Mumbai Soccer Challenge tournament organised by Deora, and at the conclusion shortlisted a few students, who were invited for further tests over two weekends. After a series of physical drills and matches, the final selections were made. Dia and the others will attend the fully sponsored 10 days training with QPR at their academy in Cranford in 2018.

With BIS team

Dia, who plays as a forward in football, has always been good in sports, representing her school in both football and athletics over the last few years. She has won medals at the BCDA, MSSA and DSO level competitions in track and field and long jump, and was part of the U-14 BIS school team that won third position in MSSA this year, and were runners up at both the DSO and Mumbai Soccer Challenge tournaments. She has been practising twice weekly with the school team which is part of the Indian Football Schools (IFS) programme for football coaching at the Cooperage grounds in Colaba.