Hyderabad FC and SFL tie up to promote football at grassroot level

Hyderabad:  School Football League (SFL) that has been working on promoting football at the grassroot level in the city for the past several years through organising leagues at School level joins hands with Hyderabad Football Club.
The two organisations have joined hands to promote the sport, nurture talent, provide exposure and groom them into a professional sport. “This is a small step towards bringing back Hyderabad’s glory back in football”, both the organisations announced.

A panel discussion on promoting football at the grassroot level was held today. The discussion was moderated by Himanshu Charan, Founder & CEO of Trugame.

The panelists included Varun Tripuraneni, Co-owner of Hyderabad Football Club; Pratima Sinha, CEO, Birla Open Minds Intl School; Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Asst Manager, Mathew kilgallon, Player, Adil Khan, Player - all from Hyderabad Football Club.
Initiating the discussion Varun Tripuraneni, Co-owner, Hyderabad FC spoke about the status of football in India, “Though India is obsessed with Cricket, Football dominates in Kerala, Goa, Kolkata and in North Eastern states. Football is part of the culture. We are promoting the sport and aiming at adding talent to many aspiring youngsters who love the sport. Through this collaboration our aim is to inspire students at the school level.”

Setting context for the discussion, Moderator Himanshu said, “For any country to be successful in the sport, Culture and Structure are the two important things required. Culture is how people feel about the sport and the system is existing infrastructure and systems to keep the sport rocking. Football is part of the culture in Kerala. In Kerala some of the top rated TV programs have strong connection to the sport”, he added.

Football is high now and growing in other places. Women youth World Cup is going to be held in India for the first time. These all add to promote the sport, he shared.

Sharing her perspective, Pratima Sinha said, in her school Birla Open Minds, the girls football is caught on well. Right now we have three girls teams and I am hopeful that the number might go up in near future.

Manchester, Barcelona, Naples, Kolkata stand tall for the sport football. It would be our endeavour to see Hyderabad warns that distinction, added Panelists.

Hyderabad produced some of the finest and best Olympic players in 1950s and 60s. But, that is the history. How do we revive that past glory? We must build the fan base. Regular sporting events and establishing conducive ecosystem will help achieve the past glory, the panelists shared. 
 
Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Asst Manager of Hyderabad Football Club who is from Jammu & Kashmir said “Education for Coaches in India has improved a lot over the period of time. Especially when you engage players at grassroot level. A mere engagement is not sufficient. To make sure that budding players enjoy the sport is important”.

Adil Khan, from Goa who played professional sport at National Level said, “Football scores over Cricket in Goa. The time is ripe for the sport to make giant strides”.

Himanshu added that the mindset of parents also changed. A sporting event held just one day before half yearly exam drew 80% participation of kids, speaks a lot that parents realised that studies are studies and sports are sports. And both are equally important.

Atif Co-founder of SFL said the main objective of their league is to make kids love the sport in the first place. Football is all about passion. Culture is changing, he added

The panelists ruled out that Indian genes do not allow us to be so fit physically to compete with European players. Messi is a physically weak player but His talent is driving him in the sport. Skill is more important than being strong physically.
SFL’s semi-finals will be held at Birla Open Minds on 18th Jan. After 170 matches held over a period of three months, 60 teams reached semi-finals to compete for the finals which will be held on 19th Jan, Himanshu added.

The event held on Friday evening at Fairfield by Marriott, Financial District at Gachibowli.