Talented children below the age of nine are identified after conducting selection trials at different centres under the guidance of a team of experts. About 2000 children, the best out of more than 20000 who turn up for selections are divided among the fifty two centres. These children are provided with intensive training by local professional coaches at different centres. Currently each batch has 25 children who are trained three times a week with duration of 2 hours in each session. Special training sessions are also conducted during vacations and holidays like Christmas, Onam etc. Once in three months, selected trainees gather at one place for an intensive training session under a professional coach. In the past, many of these sessions have been conducted by foreign youth coaches from Belgium, Holland, Malaysia and Germany.
Resident trainers at the academy also undergo refresher courses periodically to keep them updated with the best scientific training methods and techniques used in football academies around the world.
SEPT also organizes regular tournaments in the districts concerned as well as inter-center tournaments so that the boys get used to competitive football. Selected boys participated in friendly matches at Kochi & in a U-10 tournament at Goa .To help the trainees gain international exposure, team participated in 3 tournaments in Sweden (Dalecarlia Cup, Storsjocupen) and Finland (Kokkola Cup) during July 2007. SEPT, Calicut was the winner of the Dalercarlia Cup Sweden (U-11) & finished 5th in the prestigious Kokkola Cup, Finland.
