A shot in the arm for women’s football

Women’s football activities in Tamil Nadu in particular and South Zone in general would receive a fillip once the proposed South Zone inter-club tournament gets underway as per the decision taken by the AIFF’s women’s committee recently.

M. Renuka Lakshmi, the South Zone convenor, said her proposal to have a South Zone inter-club tournament was accepted at the meeting, which was attended by the AIFF Incharge Praful Patel and general-secretary Alberto Colaco.

Under this proposal, two teams from each of the Southern states - Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry - and also from Goa and Maharashtra will form the field for the tournament to be held in Chennai most likely in September, she said. “In due course, the tournament will be conducted on a rotational basis annually,” Renuka added.

Accepting that club activities in women’s football had not risen to that of men, she said her idea was to make Tamil Nadu Police as one team and Tamil Nadu XI as another. “This will, I believe, help the police force to strengthen its base in women’s football,” she said.

Renuka said Tamil Nadu is strong in women’s football and felt that some of the State players who had represented the country should be helped to gain experience by getting opportunities to play in clubs abroad.

“Even a small club would do. How else can these girls improve their standards and rise up in the sport,” Renuka wondered.