Started by coach Ramesh Kumar C., the camp presently trains as many as 140 kids
It’s a soggy morning with a wet field and more rains on the way. These conditions, however, have not stopped this group of 50-odd kids from gleefully running their soccer drills.
From ball security to blocking and tackling and field sprints, they keep practising for hours. Standing amid these youngsters, 49-year-old Ramesh Kumar .C. asks them to do a little extra, making the children sprint and chase each other over and over.
The man, who runs the Drona Football Academy (DFA) in Changnassery, now serves as a lifeline to over a hundred children from underprivileged families. Besides making football accessible to every child irrespective of the social status, he is using the game to ensure these kids are given a fair shot at life.
“Since I am a product of the grass roots system, I would like every child to have the opportunities that the players of our generation were lucky enough to enjoy,” says Mr. Kumar, who had played for various soccer clubs in his over two-decades-long career.
After retiring from professional football some six years ago, Mr. Kumar, who possesses a D certificate from the All India Football Federation, began associating with a few schools in the region. The experience helped him realise how the rising cost of playing the game, coupled with economic inequality, was increasingly keeping players from poor families away from the game.
It was at this point that he decided to launch a free training camp at the Changanassery Municipal Stadium, which runs 365 days a year. The camp, which began with just one youngster, grew over the years and presently trains as many as 140 kids. Besides football training, the coach also hosts a dinner for the kids twice a month and makes them attend various public sanitation drives.
The free-football movement also has the backing of the coach’s former colleagues like P.S. Ashim, a former Indian international. “The best coach for football in this world is the game itself. Our effort is just to ensure a whole atmosphere that is conducive to practicing and use it as a life skill module for social change,” observed Mr. Ashim.
Over the years, the academy has helped a handful of youngsters, who dropped out of their studies after high school, to join colleges under the sports quota while a few of them are now in the cusp of gaining employment through the game. The gains, however, have not been without hiccups.
“The whole project runs with the support of a few game-lovers while the COVID-19 has affected our access to sponsorships. Despite being unable to support the aspiration of these youngsters with adequate facilities, we are grinding on while also hoping that help will soon come in,” added Mr. Kumar.