The buzz of children milling about the grounds, parents cheering vociferously, ecstatic ‘dab’ celebrations, smiles, laughter and an irresistible sense of camaraderie – all brought together because of the opportunity to play good, competitive football in a safe environment. That’s what the Tata Tiago School Football Championship (SFC) has made possible over the past two years for children across India.
Children celebrating their victory at SFC 2017
In the Indian state of West Bengal, and in Kolkata especially, fans are as passionate about football as they are about cricket. This year, a few individuals in the city became proud owners of football teams participating in the Padatik Football League. While the team owners may not be famous Bollywood actors or the league as glamorous as the Indian Super League, the Padatik Football League is a one-of-a-kind event that was started in 2009.
So what’s so special about it? The participants are the children of women from red light areas in the state, prisoners, drug addicts, slum dwellers and tribals. These children don’t have any coaching, but they play with such passion that the league has gradually gained recognition for its work.
Caption: A Padatik Football League match underway
Source: DMSC Facebook
The impact of Premier League, La Liga and Bundesliga broadcasts on cable television combined with the growing influence of the two-year-old Indian Super League have been instrumental in bringing football into India’s consciousness. Today, everybody from school children to office-going senior executives are enjoying a kickabout at the numerous 5-a-side football turfs popping up all over the country. Interestingly, football has captured the imagination of people in regions where it has traditionally played second fiddle to cricket.
In this context, it is encouraging to see greater numbers of grassroots programs taking off in cities like Chennai, home of defending ISL champs, Chennaiyin FC. The latest boost to grassroots football in Chennai has come from the launch of Schools Premier League – Season 2, which has been graciously sponsored by Radiance Developers. Started in 2014, this year’s league features 16 school teams split into two groups. All schools in a group will play each other once and the top two teams from each group go on to qualify for the semi-finals.
Celebrating the start of SPL – Season 2
Source: Chennaiyin FC Facebook
On Friday, the U15 Youth League zonal phase came to an end. The final12 matches were played over 4 days last week, and here’s a quick look at the scores:
After 6 weeks, the inaugural season of Mumbai FC Masters League supported by the MDFA came to an end yesterday. Over the past few weekends, more than 1700 children from over 40 different schools and 30 academies played football at three venues all over Mumbai. Matches were held at Andheri Sports Complex, St Xaviers Ground, Parel, and Kick Football Turf in Powai.
Mumbai FC worked together with the Mumbai District Football Association (MDFA) and For Young Indians (FYI) Sports to give the youth of the city a chance to play football competitively. Mumbai FC also used the league as a way to scout talented youth that they could train for their own youth teams. At the end of the league, 15 students from each age category (U8 boys, U10 boys, U12 boys, U14 girls and U14 boys) will be chosen to train with Mumbai FC for a whole year for free. As an open league, there were schools, academies and even NGOs who participated, with schools like Don Bosco and St. Pauls, and academies like Mumbai Sporting and Christ Academy sending in numerous teams.
St. Pauls play Millat FC in the U8 Finals
In December 2015, Rural Development Trust’s (RDT) Anantapur Sports Academy (ASA) kicked off the first ever Anantapur Football League (AFL) for girls. Although the Girls AFL came to an end in the first week of February 2016, the initiative has given girls and young women in Anantapur a definitive and bright future in football in India.
In the group stages, each team had to play six games, with the top two teams in each group qualifying for the knock-out round to be played at ASA’s Anantapur Sports Village (ASV). The knock-out stage was scheduled in such a way, that the matches ended well before the athletes needed to prepare for their end-of-year exams. This meant that the players, their parents, coaches, and team managers could focus enough attention on the sport, without having to constantly worry about exam woes.
Action from the 1st AFL Girls Final between Atmakur & Kalyandurg
Source: ASA
Once Shillong Lajong FC U15 beat Gauhati Town Club U15 last Friday, we thought we were done with the U15 Youth League for a while, but a new Zone A started their matches on Sunday, and we’ve had three action-packed days of football since! Here’s a quick look at the scores of matches played this last week:
The 2015-16 season has been a great time for football at the Anantapur Sports Academy (ASA). The boys have been performing well, ever since the ASA joined hands with Fateh Hyderabad Associated Football Club (FHAFC) to support them in their I-League debut.
It all started when Fateh Hyderabad signed ASA’s senior-most player, S. Bhaskar Reddy to play for their I-League Division 2 team. This was followed by the signing of all the senior U18 ASA boys and U15 ASA boys to play in the IU18 I-League and U15 Youth Leagues for Fateh Hyderabad, respectively.
Warming Up Before a Game
Source: ASA
Kerala Playing Services in the 2013 Santosh Trophy Final
Source: spiderkerala.net
At the Santosh Trophy final in 2013, Kerala striker R. Kannan missed out on a beautiful opportunity to score, and the match ended up going into penalties with Kerala losing to Services 3-4. After the match, at a dinner hosted by their sponsors, Ramco Cements, R. Kannan lamented about the missed opportunity. However, instead of dwelling on how he could have possibly salvaged a game in the past, he told Balaji K. Moorthy of Ramco Cements that he intended on working harder and bringing home the cup in 2014!
Inspired by R. Kannan’s dedication to the sport, Ramco Cements decided to tie up with the Kerala Football Association again, and work towards boosting the sport in the state. They started the Ramco Kerala Premier League in 2014, which saw participation from 12 clubs across the state. In keeping with their commitment to football in Kerala, Ramco recently started a new youth league, the Ramco State Academy League. This one-of-a-kind U16 football competition is being held between the champion academies of each of the 14 districts in the state.
Christmas and New Year’s was a busy time for the U15 Youth League, and we found it difficult to keep up with everything going on in all four zones. Week 9 was the last of the season for the Goa Zone (Group C), while week 10 saw the last match of the Kolkata-Jamshedpur Zone (Group A) being played. This weekend, Week 11, saw the last match of the Maharashtra Zone (Group B) being played. Let’s catch up on everything we’ve missed, and see how Groups A, B and C ended the season!
Here’s a quick look at the scores of all the matches played over the last 3 weeks:
Week 9:
Week 10:
Week 11:
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