Jamshedpur, May 15: Manchester United and Chelsea seems to have caught the fancy of young aspirants here.

The sizeable number of boys turning up for the month-long summer training camp at the Tata Football Academy (TFA) is an indication that craze for soccer has grown to new heights.

The aspirants, aged 5-14 years, lined up early at the TFA ground, with their parents in tow. One hundred and fifty boys went through their paces this morning under the watchful eyes of TFA coaches Ranjan Chowdhury, P. Vijay Kumar, Carlton Chapman and Mohammed Kausar.

The trainees, most of whom are hooked to the live matches of English Football League and Champions’ League, displayed lots of enthusiasm while sweating out at the camp.

“I have watched all the matches of the English League. I love to watch the Man U players in action. They are simply superb. I have gained an interest by watching great players in action,” said Rohit Singh, an aspirant.

Many other trainees, who are from different schools in the city suburbs, echoed Rohit.

According to TFA coaches, the opening day of the summer camp (May 12) saw the aspirants being introduced at the JRD Tata Sports Complex. Later, they underwent jogging and stretching exercises.

Today, the boys went through sessions on agility and basic techniques. Besides, they also learnt co-ordination and group games. “Individual ability with the ball, yoga, meditation, passing techniques and gymnastics are the other training areas. We aim to make them better footballers,” a coach said.

The trainers added that they never expected such large participation. “We were expecting about 100 boys. But 250 have enlisted their names. We are holding the training sessions for two hours daily (5.30-7.30am) at separate venues. The trainees have been divided into eight groups. The large level of participation shows that craze for football has grown to new heights. It’s a good indication that boys are still football crazy in the age of Twenty20 cricket,” they added.

This interest spells good news for Tata Steel, which is hosting international football matches here including the Super Soccer.

Spectator interest is one of the basic areas that the sports department of Tata Steel is focussing on. Officials make tireless efforts to pull spectators to the grounds for soccer matches.