Chandigarh Under-17 Administrator's Cup from October 15

The 10th edition of the Chandigarh Under-17 Administrator's Cup will be organised by the Sports Department of the Chandigath Administration from October 15 to 23 at the Chandigarh Football Academy Ground, Sports Complex in Sector 42 and the Football Stadium in Sector 17.

A total of 15 teams in the Under-17 boys from clubs, academies and state associations from across India will be taking part in the tournament.

The participating teams will be Mahilpur Football Academy (Punjab); Sambalpur Football Academy (Orissa); Aizwal FC (Mizoram); Sahayatri Football Club, Howrah (West Bengal); Gorkha Training Centre, Shillong (Meghalaya); Thau Sports Academy (Manipur); Rohit Football Academy, Cuttack (Orissa); Football Coaching Centre, Gorgaon, Nazira (Assam); Young Challenger’s Club, Rajkot (Gujarat); Jodhpur Football Academy (Rajasthan), Madhya Pradesh Football Association, Jabalpur; Haryana Football Association, Gurgaon; Bihar Football Association, Patna; besides the Chandigarh Football Association and Chandigarh Football Academy.

Mohun Bagan U-14s winners of HP Youth Football Festival Trophy!

The first-ever 'ONGC' Himachal Pradesh Football Festival concluded yesterday with the Mohun Bagan Under-14 boys lifting the trophy in the presence of chief guest Dr. Rajiv Bindal, the General Secretary of the state BJP.

The final played under floodlights at Nahan Chaugan had a capacity crowd watching the fierce battle between Mohun Bagan AC and Odisha's Sambalpur Football Academy where the Bengal side triumphed by a 2-0 margin.

With both the teams matching each other in terms of skills and strength, the competition was fierce with both sides playing an attacking game. Satyajit Roy scored first for the young Mariners in the 30th minute to give them an edge at the break.

The change of end saw the game getting more physical with Sambalpur pushing hard for an equalizer. In the process, the Odisha side had one of its player sent-off to reduce them to 10 men. Taking advantage of the gap on the left flank, Deepankar ran across two defenders and sent in a perfect cross for Ferozuddin Mollah to slot in the second goal in the 67th minute.

Prior to the kick-off, the chief guest in his speech encourage the kids of Himachal Pradesh to take interest in the game of football as it helps the children to understand the importance of hard work and team spirit.

Mr. Bindal also said, "Himachal has taken giant strides in improving its football in a very short span of time. But the good work has to be continued as the mission has not been achieved yet. The road ahead is still very long."

He also added, "The Government is also doing everything possible to make Himachal a strong sporting state with the calibre to produce international athletes of all kinds."

To encourage people, he also reminded them about the 3 percent quota for sports persons in Government jobs.

Early in the evening famous football juggler Uttam Das treated Nahan with a rare sight of football magic. He rode around Nahan on a bike, balancing a football over his head and then he showed some of his juggling skills to mesmerize the people of Nahan.

All-India Inter-Academy Tournament in Durgapur

The Mohun Bagan-SAIL Football Academy will organise the first-ever All-India Inter-Academy Football Tournament later this month. Durgapur in West Bengal will host the tournament, which will be played from November 19 to 27 with eight renowned football academies from across India taking part.

The Academies which are set to take part are hosts Mohun Bagan SAIL Football Academy (Durgapur), Tata Football Academy (Jamshedpur), Sesa Football Academy (Goa), Sambalpur Football Academy (Orissa), JCT Football Academy (Phagwara, Punjab), Dehradun Football School (Uttarakhand), Kenkre Football Academy (Mumbai), Bangalore Football School (Karnataka).

The eight participating football academies will be split into two groups of four teams each with the top two moving into the semifinals to be played on November 25, while the final will be played on November 27. The semifinals and final of the tournament will be telecast live by Bengali channel 'R Plus'.

The tournament will be good exposure for young aspiring footballers from across India at the youth level. There is sadly a lack of competitions at this level.