A football for every newborn boy in these villages
50-yr-old ritual still going strong in Gurdaspur | Top-draw players emerge in ‘conveyer belts’
In Khokhar Faujian village, the ritual of placing a football beside a newly-born male child is alive and kicking five decades after it was first initiated even as the area, comprising a cluster of six villages, has acquired the reputation of producing top-draw footballers.
Whenever a baby boy is born in the village, 15 km from Gurdaspur on the road leading to Batala, local players come calling and leave a ball near the child or in the lap of his mother.
“This custom is in vogue ever since it was started in the late Sixties. When RCF goalkeeper Gurpinder Singh was born, this particular practice was followed. Likewise, when his son, Gulraj Singh, was born, Gurpinder left a ball beside him,” said Amritpal Singh, who doubles up as a teacher and player.
The villages, where the sport has become a way of life, are Udhowal, Dyalgarh, Godharpur, Bulewal and Behbal Chak, all of which are scattered on either side of GT road.
These hamlets have acquired the sobriquet of being “conveyer belts” for producing good players.
Sample this: goalkeeper Pawan Kumar of Khokhar Faujian has been contracted by the prestigious Assam-based North East (NE) club for two years at a price of Rs 80 lakh. The club is owned by actor John Abraham and takes part in the Indian Super League (ISL).
In 2010, he led JCT to the Durand Cup final. He has also trained in UK with the Wolverhampton Wanderers Academy because JCT and the Academy have a partnership.
“Likewise, Lara Sharma, who turns out for Atletico FC, Kolkata, is also from the same village as Pawan,” said Harpal Singh, a school DPI in Dyalgarh village.
Midfielder Shenaj Singh of Udhowal village has also made a name for himself in the domestic circuit while playing for Vasco FC, Goa. Other players who have done Punjab proud in Santosh Trophy, the country’s top domestic championship, are Manjinder Singh Toni, Hargursharanjit Singh Goni, Gurpinder Singh, Harpal Singh and Suba Singh, the last two being SP-rank officers in Punjab Police.
“We have worked hard to ensure that the flag of our village keeps flying high. Things do not always go your way in football. At the end of the day, you have to have a positive attitude and strong mentality and not let any setbacks bog you down,” said Bhagat Singh Pannu, a Punjab Police official.
He regularly organises a seven-a-side tournament for under-19 boys, which, over the years, has become a hunting ground for spotting talent.
Youngsters from these villages regularly take part in tournaments across the state. It is from here that teams like RCF, Punjab Police, BSF, Army and JCT choose their picks.
A player said the area could have produced more national and international-level players but for the fact that not many tournaments are held these days.
“The Shaheed Bhagat Singh memorial tournament used to be held in Khokhar Faujian. Seven years ago, it was discontinued because SAD and Congress politicians played spoilsport. If such tourneys are held regularly, we can give our state more players,” said a player.
Age fraud hits Indian football, junior players from all 3 northeast teams fail test
Indian football was on Monday rocked by age fraud with players of all three Under-13 North Eastern teams failing the bone age determination test.
The teams include former I-League winners Aizawl FC, Shillong Lajong and Neroca FC.
Also, most of the players from former I-League champions Minerva Punjab FC’s U-13 team also failed the test.
All these players have been barred from playing in the sub-junior U-13 Youth League with immediate effect by the All India Football Federation (AIFF).
“Minerva Punjab aside, most of the players from all the northeast teams failed the TW3 bone age determination test. They have been barred from taking further part in the competition,” an AIFF official told PTI on the condition of anonymity.
“A team can register as many as 35 to 40 players but it needs at least 18 players (who have passed the test) to be able to participate in the tournament,” he added.
Minerva Punjab FC, who have been at loggerheads with the AIFF for some time now, said the federation is being vindictive.
Minerva Punjab owner Ranjit Bajaj said his players have been wrongly stopped from playing and questioned the timing.
“Why are these things happening at the same time. Imposing a huge fine on my team, stopping my players from playing. Of course, they are being vindictive,” Bajaj said.
Bajaj had recently threatened that he would shut down his club, claiming that his team had been denied permission to host its AFC Cup match, scheduled for May 1, in Bhubaneswar.
“This only strengthens my resolve that we can’t continue like this here,” he said.
The club has done exceptionally well in recent times as far as its youth development programmes are concerned, winning the U-13, U-15 and U-18 leagues last season.
Bajaj further said the club had given the correct age certificates and passports of all the players, adding if the federation had to do something it could have six months ago and not now.
Minerva is 80% NE, then there are 100% chances of age frauds, as we know that region is femous for producing age frauds taking advantage of young looks.
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A football for every newborn boy in these villages
50-yr-old ritual still going strong in Gurdaspur | Top-draw players emerge in ‘conveyer belts’In Khokhar Faujian village, the ritual of placing a football beside a newly-born male child is alive and kicking five decades after it was first initiated even as the area, comprising a cluster of six villages, has acquired the reputation of producing top-draw footballers.
Whenever a baby boy is born in the village, 15 km from Gurdaspur on the road leading to Batala, local players come calling and leave a ball near the child or in the lap of his mother.
“This custom is in vogue ever since it was started in the late Sixties. When RCF goalkeeper Gurpinder Singh was born, this particular practice was followed. Likewise, when his son, Gulraj Singh, was born, Gurpinder left a ball beside him,” said Amritpal Singh, who doubles up as a teacher and player.The villages, where the sport has become a way of life, are Udhowal, Dyalgarh, Godharpur, Bulewal and Behbal Chak, all of which are scattered on either side of GT road.
These hamlets have acquired the sobriquet of being “conveyer belts” for producing good players.
Sample this: goalkeeper Pawan Kumar of Khokhar Faujian has been contracted by the prestigious Assam-based North East (NE) club for two years at a price of Rs 80 lakh. The club is owned by actor John Abraham and takes part in the Indian Super League (ISL).
In 2010, he led JCT to the Durand Cup final. He has also trained in UK with the Wolverhampton Wanderers Academy because JCT and the Academy have a partnership.
“Likewise, Lara Sharma, who turns out for Atletico FC, Kolkata, is also from the same village as Pawan,” said Harpal Singh, a school DPI in Dyalgarh village.
Midfielder Shenaj Singh of Udhowal village has also made a name for himself in the domestic circuit while playing for Vasco FC, Goa. Other players who have done Punjab proud in Santosh Trophy, the country’s top domestic championship, are Manjinder Singh Toni, Hargursharanjit Singh Goni, Gurpinder Singh, Harpal Singh and Suba Singh, the last two being SP-rank officers in Punjab Police.
“We have worked hard to ensure that the flag of our village keeps flying high. Things do not always go your way in football. At the end of the day, you have to have a positive attitude and strong mentality and not let any setbacks bog you down,” said Bhagat Singh Pannu, a Punjab Police official.
He regularly organises a seven-a-side tournament for under-19 boys, which, over the years, has become a hunting ground for spotting talent.
Youngsters from these villages regularly take part in tournaments across the state. It is from here that teams like RCF, Punjab Police, BSF, Army and JCT choose their picks.
A player said the area could have produced more national and international-level players but for the fact that not many tournaments are held these days.
“The Shaheed Bhagat Singh memorial tournament used to be held in Khokhar Faujian. Seven years ago, it was discontinued because SAD and Congress politicians played spoilsport. If such tourneys are held regularly, we can give our state more players,” said a player.
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/a-football-for-every-newborn-boy-in-these-villages/754879.html
Age fraud hits Indian football, junior players from all 3 northeast teams fail test
Indian football was on Monday rocked by age fraud with players of all three Under-13 North Eastern teams failing the bone age determination test.
The teams include former I-League winners Aizawl FC, Shillong Lajong and Neroca FC.
Also, most of the players from former I-League champions Minerva Punjab FC’s U-13 team also failed the test.
All these players have been barred from playing in the sub-junior U-13 Youth League with immediate effect by the All India Football Federation (AIFF).
“Minerva Punjab aside, most of the players from all the northeast teams failed the TW3 bone age determination test. They have been barred from taking further part in the competition,” an AIFF official told PTI on the condition of anonymity.
“A team can register as many as 35 to 40 players but it needs at least 18 players (who have passed the test) to be able to participate in the tournament,” he added.
Minerva Punjab FC, who have been at loggerheads with the AIFF for some time now, said the federation is being vindictive.
Minerva Punjab owner Ranjit Bajaj said his players have been wrongly stopped from playing and questioned the timing.
“Why are these things happening at the same time. Imposing a huge fine on my team, stopping my players from playing. Of course, they are being vindictive,” Bajaj said.
Bajaj had recently threatened that he would shut down his club, claiming that his team had been denied permission to host its AFC Cup match, scheduled for May 1, in Bhubaneswar.
“This only strengthens my resolve that we can’t continue like this here,” he said.
The club has done exceptionally well in recent times as far as its youth development programmes are concerned, winning the U-13, U-15 and U-18 leagues last season.
Bajaj further said the club had given the correct age certificates and passports of all the players, adding if the federation had to do something it could have six months ago and not now.