AIFF launches 'ScoutMe' app developed by 17-year-old Kush Pandey

The Indian football federation has launched 'ScoutMe', an app developed to help the scouting of talents all over the country...

The All Football Federation (AIFF) has launched 'ScoutME', an application to scout football talents around the country, at an event in Delhi on Tuesday. AIFF President Praful Patel, General Secretary Kushal Das and national team director Abhishek Yadav graced the launching event.

'Scout Me' is an application developed by 17-year-old Kush Pandey from Jaipur. The app will be open to AIFF scouts and coaches across the country who will be provided with a log-in and password to help with their scouting. The app is designed to store information regarding all matches organized by the football federation anywhere in the country.

Praful Patel lauded the creator's efforts and said, "The young generations, be it in any sport, have got so much more opportunities which were not present in the past. We have seen many examples where technology has changed people’s lives and taken them in a new direction.

"This app will be very useful. We have in the recent past introduced the central registry (CRS), which didn’t use to happen earlier. Things, however, need to happen, especially in a big country likes ours. We have got talent, we have people who play really well but do not get the opportunity. We have to make things easier. With technology, with the click of a button, now you can get all the details about a particular player."

Patel highlighted the success of the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 which was hosted by to explain the necessity of a scouting app.

"In light of our own experience in the U-17 World Cup, we have seen a good scouting programme. We have international scouting too and we had two players in our World Cup squad. Maybe more will come into the future. At the end of the day, no matter where they are, if they are good enough to play for the country they should be able to do so.

"These types of apps will go viral very soon. It multiplies everything, including speed. The number of matches and number of users will grow exponentially. It is not possible for the scouts to travel to each and every part of the country to watch players because there are travel issues and logistic issues.

"On behalf of the AIFF, I can say that not only will the app be useful for the federation, it will also be useful for football in general. The very fact that the AIFF is here to launch it is an endorsement of Kush’s (App creator) efforts," said the AIFF President.

AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das also endorsed the app and explained how it will benefit coaches by supplying them with large amounts of useful data at their fingertip.

"The AIFF uses a lot of digital stuff these days. For the past two years, apart from the CRS, we are also using the CMS (Competition management system) on top it. For the last two years, all our competitions, be it the ISL, are all managed by the CMS. Which means, for the past two years, we have data for the players who have played, how much time they have played, in our system. This is extremely useful for any coach. This app will supplement these efforts.

"The AIFF currently organizes 1000 matches a year. Within the next five years, the AIFF, along with the state associations, will be organizing 20,000 matches. We are also in the process of introducing an app for the baby leagues," revealed Das.

Coaches will be allowed to upload data such as pictures and videos into the app. Birth certificates and IDs can also be uploaded to verify the age of players.