Chennai: Today, as Chennaiyin FC take the pitch at the Nehru stadium to face the Mumbai team, the number of fans is expected to exceed the 21,000-odd which the club attracted in its last outing here.
Current players, former players and local heroes who were all in attendance last time will be thronging the stands again to see the ‘beautiful game’ roll. However, the common regret they share is the lack of local players in the ISL team.
Former Tamil Nadu and Railways player P.Nagesh feels that at least three players in the current crop, Raegen, Sudhakar and Riju, should have been there on the field, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Bernard Mendy and other foreign players. It would motivate the younger crop too, he said.
“We were all happy that football, which has been a working-class sport for long, got it’s due recognition, but the only worrying factor is that Chennaiyin FC doesn’t have a local name,” said N.Thangaraj (15) who watched the game with 150 budding footballers from the Vyasarpadi slum boards.
Thangaraj, along with his friend Umapathy, a former state player, formed the Slum Children Sports Talent Education Development Society (SC-STEDS) about a decade ago. The children’s love for football cannot be questioned. There is a junior player, Figo, named after the Portuguese player, in their ranks.
Thangaraj feels that ISL couldn’t have come at a better time. Most of the children here have a difficult life. Either, their families have abandoned them or they live in abject poverty. Youngsters, who take up football, also deviate as they grow up because of the lawlessness that thrives in the area, said Thangaraj.
SC-STEDS star player, M.Dhillipan (18) himself doesn’t have a permanent place to stay. Abandoned by his father at an early age, he moved to his grandmother’s place at ‘B’ Kalyanapuram in Vyasarpadi, with his mother Indira Gandhi, and his brother Deepan. Yet, it’s football that has ushered in change in his locality.
Discipline has been instilled in youngsters. A player’s father stopped selling mawa (a type of tobacco) after his son started playing football regularly, says another coach.
The torchbearers of the game use football to promote education and emancipation of the at-risk children in these slums.
A visit to the SC-STEDS facility at Mullai nagar in Vyasarpadi is revealing. The artificial green turf where the young crop practices five a side football every day looks distinctly out of place in these surroundings, and clear evidence of change having come. Meanwhile, Dhillipan has already set his eyes on the ISL. “I am expecting to break through into the Chennaiyin FC squad in the next two years,” he says.
There are women players who also take the game seriously. “Ten years ago, the girls would be hesitant to play the game in match attire, jersey and shorts. Today, things have changed for the better,” Thangaraj said.
They are taught the importance of education and the good players manage to land in college through the sports quota, and subsequently, a permanent job. We will be happy if they take it to the next level as their advancement will motivate other youngsters in the area,” Thangaraj said. No wonder, football is called the ‘beautiful game’
