Football’s influence is measured not only by goals and trophies, but by the lives it touches beyond the pitch. Through initiatives such as the Premier League’s NEXTGEN Coach Programme, community coaches across India are being empowered with the skills to inspire, educate and support young people.
Football may be decided by goals on the pitch, but its impact often stretches far beyond it. Across India, community coaches are using the game as a tool to educate, support and inspire young people, helping to create positive change in places where opportunities can sometimes be limited.
The Premier League’s NEXTGEN Coach programme is at the centre of that effort. It is an initiative to not only develop better coaches but also to strengthen the communities they serve.
Introducing the coaches driving the change
When the next edition of the Premier League NEXTGEN Coach Programme takes place in Mumbai this October, community coaches Kirti Kashyap and Nariender Tokas will help deliver the programme.
Both coach educators have travelled different paths through football and education but share a common belief: Football can be used as a powerful tool for social development.
Kirti Kashyap, an AFC ‘B’ Licence coach, has extensively worked across youth football, coach education and football-based learning programmes. His coaching path includes stints with the Delhi U17 Girls and youth setups at Indian Super League (ISL) clubs Delhi Dynamos FC and Odisha FC.
More from Football NewsKirti’s journey is a living testament to how football coaching can go far beyond the game itself.
He began his training with the British Council and the Premier League by enrolling in the Premier Skills program, which was designed to teach local coaches and referees to build inclusive community football projects.
Image: Premier League
During one of the Premier League coach education programmes, a personal hygiene session gave him an idea that he felt could make a real difference in the lives of the young players that he works with.
He incorporated simple yet effective messages into his coaching sessions by encouraging players to follow basic cleanliness routines: Keeping their nails trimmed, maintaining good personal hygiene and taking care of their playing gear.
Kirti’s goal was simple: Encourage young players to take better care of themselves.
The changes might be small, but they became valuable life lessons alongside football training. Today, he continues to support grassroots football development while helping coaches create more inclusive learning environments for young people.
For Nariender Tokas, coaching has always been about much more than developing football skills. His career spans more than 18 years in physical education, athletic training and sports leadership, but his greater focus is on fostering an environment where young people feel safe, valued and confident enough to express themselves.
Moreover, at the heart of his coaching philosophy is the belief that every young kid should have a positive and meaningful experience through sport.
Which is why, Nariender incorporated the STEPS and SMILES framework he learned at a Premier League coach education programme, encouraging coaches to look beyond drills and tactics and carefully think on how their sessions are delivered.
Image: Premier League
The concepts emphasised on creating sessions which are safe, inclusive, enjoyable and focused on learning while providing coaches with practical tools to achieve those goals. Tokas has since shared those methods with other coaches to help them improve their work with young learners in schools and beyond.
For both coaches, the NEXTGEN programme represents more than a coaching workshop. It is an opportunity to exchange ideas with veteran practitioners and build knowledge that can be passed on to several young people in schools and communities.
But their stories also highlight a bigger question: Why does investing in coaches matter so much?
What is the NEXTGEN Coach Programme?
Designed to support football’s growth at the grassroots level, the Premier League NEXTGEN Coach Programme is developed around a simple idea that learning should not stop with the individual attending the course.
The course helps community coaches enhance their coaching abilities and leadership skills by providing practical training and education to empower them to deliver meaningful sessions that positively impact young people and their development.
Delivered in partnership with the OSCAR Foundation, the programme works with community coaches, equipping them with practical tools that can be applied in their own environments and shared with others.
Image: Premier League
NEXTGEN goes beyond conventional development, as participants are encouraged to think about communication, leadership, player welfare, community engagement and creating positive experiences for the young people.
The inaugural edition of the programme was held in Goa in May 2026, in which over 30 coaches from the OSCAR Foundation took part in workshops and practical sessions led by Premier League’s international community coaches and Indian coach educators.
The prime objective was to help coaches become better mentors, leaders and role models to the children they teach.
Premier League’s Journey in India
The NEXTGEN Coach programme is just the latest chapter in a much longer story of the Premier League’s community and coach development work in India.
For almost two decades now, the Premier League has collaborated with local partners, schools, and football programmes to provide learning opportunities through sport.
These initiatives have been built around the belief that investing in people creates long-term impact. Rather than delivering short-term activities, the focus has often been on helping local coaches, referees and educators develop skills that can continue benefiting communities long after a programme ends.
Image: Premier League
One such example is the Premier Skills programme, delivered alongside the British Council, which focused on training coaches and referees to create inclusive community football projects.
Through programmes like this, the Premier League has steadily expanded its social footprint across the country while strengthening local networks capable of driving change at the grassroots level.
Turning Lessons Into Lasting Change
The scale of Premier League’s efforts has grown significantly over the years.
What began with Premier Skills in 2007 has evolved into a wider network of initiatives across Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Goa, Kerala, Karnataka, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and other parts of the country. This includes innovative coach development and education initiatives such as Primary Stars and Mumbai’s first dedicated football programme for children with disabilities.
Image: Premier League
Today, these programmes have reached 18 states, supported more than 7,500 coaches, referees and educators, and engaged over 164,000 young people.
But the numbers only tell one part of the story. The real impact can often be seen through the experiences of the coaches themselves, like coaches Kirti and Nariender, and how they apply their learning within their communities.
The Next Phase of NEXTGEN
The story of the Premier League’s NEXTGEN Coach Programme is ultimately about something bigger than just the game.
It is about the coaches who continued to learn and support their communities with the knowledge they never had access to while growing up.
It is about recognising football as a space where everyone should have the opportunity to participate, learn and belong, from young girls finding confidence through the game to socially underserved groups getting an equal chance to play.
Image: Premier League
It is about working together with local stakeholders to create positive environments for young people and also recognising that football’s influence can extend well beyond the boundaries of the pitch.
Across its work in India and around the world, the Premier League has continued to use football to open up opportunities for communities that have traditionally had less access to the game.
The NEXTGEN Programme is part of a much longer journey where football becomes a catalyst for education, inclusion and community development across India.
The vision is clear: strengthen communities through football by empowering the people who are best placed to make a difference within them.
