The first-ever Football tournament in Parigi catalyzes change through fun (and sports).What’s more, the team from the rural town stands the winner, with shoes or without.
Parigi is essentially a small town located in Ranga Reddy district, 85 kilometers away from the capital city of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. For a remote location however, the Government High School was bright and happening on September 18, 2011. Football it was – the town hosted its first ever Football Tournament at the divisional level. Even amidst a warm, sunny weather, the heat of joy and love for the game drove more than 150 youngsters all the way from their homes in nearby areas, out in the school ground to play.
Sporting blue jerseys, the Magic Bus team of Youth Mentors (YMs) and Training and Monitoring Officers (TMOs) came forward for all the miscellaneous jobs like erecting tents, installing flags, and also, keeping notes. Toss happened, and the first kick of the tournament sent the ball flying and crowds cheering.
Promoting rural sports and participation for all, the game began. The Physical Education Teacher from the school was chosen to be the referee. The community sports coaches were divided into 6 teams based on their area. The youths cheered for their teams. It was sheer pleasure to watch the members in tees, shorts and track pants playing football. While some of them sported football shoes too, many played bare-foot but with equal enthusiasm and vigor. The local youth mentors adorned.
Interestingly, the local Parigi team stood winner in the tournament. Dr T Ram Mohan Reddy, an educationist-cum-philanthropist distributed the prizes to the winning team members. There was a huge applause. Magic Bus too, was appreciated by guests and media for organizing events in the rural areas involving the youth members. The guests also expressed that they would like Magic Bus to organize similar events in the neighboring areas.
The event was sponsored by TRR trust. From footfalls to footballs, it was a memorable day for the community sports coaches/youths, participating in a divisional level tournament.
Magic Bus is reaching out to 2500 children through 116 Community Sports Coaches (CSCs) and 6 Youth Mentors in Parigi through its Sports for development (S4D) programme.
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