Soccer dreams reining high! Meghalaya gears up for Baby League promoting football

Shillong, July 17: As the FIFA World Cup fever glued the entire world to their seats; the North-eastern state of Meghalaya wasn't untouched with it for the sport is very popular in the state. The state dwelled in forming its own future champions. A Baby League has been formed for the kids to promote the sport and help them in building their future goals.

Comprehending the importance of inculcating the spirit of football at a younger age in kids, the Meghalaya Football Association took the opportunity to organize a unique football competition to promote the sport at the grass root level.

A Baby League, the brainchild of All India Football Federation (AIFF), is garnering the huge attention of football fans in the state these days. It is a joint initiative of Tata Trusts, Meghalaya Football Association, and AIFF. The league format football competition for ages 4 to 13 years, has as many as 12 teams and the matches are played on every Saturday and on select school holidays.

Arki Nongrum, the CEO of the Meghalaya Football Association (MFA) was quoted as saying, "What was lacking for grassroots football players was a competitive platform. The Baby League provides this platform for kids at a young age." "If you train each and every day but you do not play anyone competitively, it makes no sense." The parents are also showing a keen interest in this unique initiative and they are taking their kids to the Baby League so that they start learning the nuances of the game at an early age.

The matches are played at the Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Complex, Shillong, where young kids swarm the ground and try to kick the ball at will and score a goal. There are no goalkeepers for the young ones, just two goal posts on each side of the field. As the age limit increases, the childishness gets replaced with a sense of professionalism towards the sport.

There are specific defence lines and the young players, dressed up in different jersey colours inspired by various football teams around the world, compete to win the matches. Matches are shorter than the standard duration: 10 minutes per half for the youngest age group while 25 minutes for the teenagers. Earlier last year, the Baby League was held in Mumbai and Pune.

The first Meghalaya edition is being organised by the state's Football Association, in collaboration with technical partners AIFF and main sponsor, Tata Trusts. Bengaluru is expected to start their version of Baby League, and talks are on for an Odisha Baby League as well.