The process to select four youngsters (2 boys & 2 girls) to train with English football club Queen’s Park Rangers (QPR) Youth Academy commenced with 12th the QPR-South Mumbai Junior Soccer Challenger 2022 selection tournament at the Western Railway ground, Mahalaxmi on Saturday.
This tournament is India’s longest running and largest community football tournament and is an initiative of Milind Deora and conducted in association QPR. The event is conceived and managed by Saran Sports.
The Championship would also serve as a talent hunt for 50 talented youngsters, who will be shortlisted for a coaching clinic in the near future from which four children (2 Boys and 2 Girls) will be selected to train at the QPR Youth Academy, London for a two week program in 2023.
This year, the tournament will witness approximately 6000 children from over 100 schools. The boys’ and girls’ teams are in the under-8, under-10, under-12, under-14 and under-16 categories. The Championship is open to all South Mumbai schools including Government aided and Municipal schools which comprise appox 75% of the participants. The tournament will provide an equal and fair opportunity to kids from different backgrounds to showcase their talent and skills on a common platform.
Talking about the championship, Milind Deora (Ex Member of Parliament & Ex Union Minister) said: “Football is a growing passion amongst today’s youth. By organizing such championships I hope to provide a platform for the youth to exhibit their football skills. I hope to provide football enthusiasts with the necessary infrastructure and help the coaches identify talent. I am sure that with a cohesive effort, we will be able to popularize and develop the sport in India.”
QPR’s head of community program, Andy Evans said: “We have been associated with the South Mumbai Junior Soccer championship since its inception in 2009. The participants have been increasing and we have witnessed some great football being played by the youth of South Mumbai. Even though this championship aims at bringing only the South Mumbai community together, it provides opportunities for talented players to showcase their skills leading to them being the future stars of the game.”
The Sponsors are the Aditya Birla Group and the C0-Sponsors are Surf Excel and the Essar Group. The partners are JSW Sports.
In some of the opening matches, Sitaram Mill Compound Mumbai Public School defeated Mahalaxmi Mumbai Public School 3-2 in the girls’ under-10 year match.
In contrast, Wadibundar Mumbai Public School outplayed Adarsh Nagar Mumbai Public School coasting to a 5-0 win in a girl’s under-14 match.
In a boys’ under-14 match, K.K. Marg Marathi ‘B’ managed to overcome K.K. Marg Hindi by a narrow, but high-scoring 5-4 margin.