Nepal’s professional domestic football league has been on hold for the past four years. But organisations like AG10 Football Academy are making sure that young footballers still have the chance to excel.

Founded in 2022 by former Nepali national team skipper Anil Gurung, AG10 aims to foster Nepal’s next generation of football stars.

AG10 has multiple age groups to accommodate young athletes as they progress in the sport, starting with an under-eight team, and progressing to 16-and-up. Meeting on weekends, the academy practices at Chyasal Stadium in Lalitpur.

Next month, Gurung and some of his players will travel to Denmark to play in the Dana Cup, one of the world’s largest international youth football tournaments. Both the under-12 and under-14 teams will be competing, with the under-14 team returning as defending champions.

These kinds of opportunities are unique for young footballers in Nepal, as the country’s football scene gets little international attention, and local interest in the sport has begun to dip with the hiatus of the national league.

The work of AG10 in training and inspiring the next wave of Nepali footballers is reflective of Gurung’s own legacy as a player who pushed boundaries for the country’s football scene by finding success both domestically and internationally.

AG10 appears determined to ensure the country’s football scene remains vibrant—alive and kicking.

Here are the photos of a training session of the academy from the lens of Noah Epps: