Butler steps up search for young stars

Bangladesh women's national team head coach Peter James Butler has launched a grassroots talent identification programme to find the country's next generation of football stars, beginning with a two-day event in Sylhet this weekend.

Backed by the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF), the 'Future Stars' programme aims to identify prospects for the Under-15, Under-17 and Under-20 national teams.

Saturday and Sunday's pilot event will be open to girls born between 2010 and 2012. It marks a shift in Bangladesh's football development, taking official scouting beyond Dhaka amid an irregular domestic league structure.

"No talent ID has been initiated outside of Dhaka. It needed to change, and the president has backed it," Butler said. "The object is to feed the pipeline to the Under-20s and ultimately the senior national team."

Drawing on his experience with national men's teams in Liberia and Botswana, Butler plans to introduce the eight-team tournament format across all divisions from the new year.

The Sylhet event will feature 50-minute matches, with each team guaranteed at least two games. If a match is drawn, the team with more attacking corners will win, while penalties will be used only in the semi-finals and final. Goalkeepers will also be barred from kicking the ball out of their hands to encourage build-up play.

Scouts will assess work-rate, first touch, game awareness, speed and discipline, with players required to keep the same shirt number throughout the tournament.

Butler believes such proactive scouting is crucial to raising Bangladesh's international standards.

"We have to set the bar higher and be more thorough if we wish to continue to improve," he said. "Sustainability and consistency are the key to creating an elite programme."