The football fever has gripped the city with the month-long Independence Cup Football Tournament set to begin on July 14 and more girls’ teams are set to take part in it this year.
Students from various schools were seen practising at the Nehru Maidan in preparation for the tournament. Despite the absence of a coach, the team from Padua High School practised earnestly. “We basically train ourselves. We help each other in correcting our faults. We want to prove that even we can play and score well,” said Colin and Levin, students of class 10. Avid fans of Lionel Messi, they wanted to bring fame to their school and be appreciated.
Although the rain did not dampen their enthusiasm, it could prove to be an interference while facing the opponents.
“This field often gets slushy, and becomes slippery on one side. That makes it hard for the teams to score goals. The position of the goalie is the hardest to play during the rains,” said Levin, another team member. “It would be better if a new field would be laid out,” they said.
On the other hand, the team from Rosario P.U. College found it challenging to play in the rain.
“It (the rain) does irritate the defenders during the match, but we just want to score goals and win every match,” said Mohammed Saif, a member of the team. The team said it practised very hard, and hoped to win the tournament in the P.U. category. “Our team is one of the strongest among all the P.U. colleges,” one of its members said.
The Padua team faced fierce competition from the team from Joyland High School, while Rosario had both Joyland and Aloysius schools to look out for.
Each match would last 45 minutes, during which each team would hope to score two or three goals on an average.
The tournament will be held in separate categories for Higher Primary boys and girls (July 14 to 17), High school boys and girls (July 18- 21), Pre-university College (July 22 – 27), Degree College (July 28 – August 7) and Professional colleges (August 8 – 14).
The final matches of High school, P.U. and Degree college teams will be held on August 15.
The winning teams in each event will be awarded Rs. 5,000 each while the runner-ups will be awarded a prize of Rs. 3,000.
The last date for registration of degree and professional college teams for the tournament has been extended to July 20.
Dakshina Kannada District Football Association has organised the tournament for the 16th year.
Association chairman D.M. Aslam said the tournament provided a platform for many students from various colleges.
“Teams from various schools and colleges have been practising from almost a month now. Since many schools do not have a football field, the students practise at the maidan and prepare for the tournament,” he told The Hindu .
He said that so far, 150 teams had registered. “This year has been exceptional since quite a few teams have registered in the girls’ category. While there are eight teams of girls competing in the higher primary section, the high school section will have 12. Neither the mud and rain nor the fierce competition deters their spirits.” he said.
