The Soccer for Children Rights tournament, organised by Child Rights and You (CRY) on Saturday, seemed at first glance a match between unequal teams — youth from Vyasarpadi slums against big corporate teams.
But the youngsters made up for in might what they lacked in age or experience.
The one-day football match, organised on the occasion of the National Girl Child Day, saw nine corporate teams — HDFC Bank, Vodafone, Trends-in-Vogue, Wabag, Ford, Technip, Ramco Systems, Infosys and iNautix — and a group from the Slum Children Sports Talent Education Development Society (SCSTEDS) in Vyasarpadi battle it out in a round-robin tournament.
Mayor Saidai Duraisamy inaugurated the tournament at YMCA grounds in Nandanam.
Suma Ravi, regional director, CRY (South), said, “Soccer for Child Rights is CRY’s flagship tournament where children from our project in the Vysarpadi slums participated to prove that sport can change their lives. We are glad the tournament found interest among many in the corporate world and are grateful to them for participating.”
In the final, SCSTEDS beat HDFC (3-0) and won a cash prize of Rs. 25,000.
N. Thangaraj, coach of the SCSTEDS team, said the tournament had given the children an opportunity to showcase their sporting skills to a wider audience.
