Our Story

Weekly Schedule

OUR STORY

WE BELIEVE IN WINNING.

WE JUST DON’T BELIEVE THAT’S ALL THAT MATTERS

Thane didn’t have a proper football club. Not one built for kids who wanted more than a weekend kickabout – real coaching, real competition, a real path forward. So in 2012, we built one. Young Guns Football Academy became Thane’s first official football club, and we’ve spent every year since chasing that same standard.

We believe in winning. Trophies matter – ask any parent who’s watched their child lift one. But a trophy isn’t why players stay with us for five, six, seven years, the way so many of ours have. They stay for what happens between the matches: the discipline, the confidence, the friendships, the version of themselves they become.

Today, that’s 500+ players trained across 7 centres in Thane and Mumbai. It’s a Leno Premier League Champions and Runners-Up finish. It’s Kanaad Rahalkar walking into a trial with Jamshedpur FC – proof that a kid who started here can compete anywhere.

We call it football beyond the field. Everything else is just the scoreline.

Football Beyond The Field.

Suraj Pillai

Before he was shaping strikers and midfielders in Thane, Suraj Pillai stood on the touchline of the Indian Super League – as Assistant Manager of Hyderabad FC, inside one of Indian football’s biggest stages. He’s coached internationally too, with time spent in Australia’s football setup, before choosing to bring that experience home to the players who need it most.

At Young Guns, his job is simple: build better footballers, and better people. He treats coach education as seriously as player development, because a great environment for kids starts with great coaches.

Click or hover the image

“

Parents often ask how to make their child a better footballer. The real question is: are we creating the right environment for them to learn, fail, and grow?

”

– SURAJ PILLAI

Pratik Telang

Pratik didn’t set out to become a coach. He set out to fix a gap. Thane had no shortage of kids who loved football – what it lacked was anywhere that took them seriously. So he built the academy that would go on to become the city’s first official football club.

His job now is making sure that standard never slips: the right coaches, the right facilities, the right experience for every player who walks in, whether they’re chasing a professional dream or just chasing the ball with their friends.

Click or hover the image

“

WE ARE BUILDING MORE THAN AN ACADEMY — WE ARE BUILDING A FOOTBALL COMMUNITY THAT INSPIRES THE NEXT GENERATION.

”

– PRATIK TELANG