QUEEN’S ROAD: A football club based in Bengaluru is reaching out to underprivileged children in a big way.
Magic Feet Football Club, owned by Bangalore Schools Sports Foundation, aims to transform the lives of slum children through sports.
The initiative was kicked off in 2009 by Elvis Joseph, a former athlete, to groom such children to compete at the international level.
This dream has now come true with the club being invited to participate in the Friendship Cup in Melbourne. With its performances, the team has caught the eye of many international youth football clubs.
The Melbourne Friendship Cup tournament will take place between December 12 and 16 at Melbourne.
Magic Feet FC has already put Bengaluru on the global sporting map, winning the Great Wall Cup of Beijing in 2014. It has gained international acclaim for fielding players from the slums of Bengaluru to represent the country.
“With its association with ASC Centre South (Bangalore) Boys Sports Coy (Indian Army), Magic Feet FC has set new benchmarks in identifying young talent and grooming them for the future of football in India,” said Elvis Joseph.
Players in the under-17 team for the Melbourne Friendship Cup are boys from the most remote villages of the North-East, professionally trained under the Boys Sports Coy (Indian Army). This is for the first time in history that an under-17 boys’ team will be playing in Melbourne, he told City Express.
“Despite the lack of financial support, we have a winning team on hand, and want to pursue our dreams of keeping the national flag flying high,” said Elvis Joseph.
Melbourne link
Magic Feet FC is playing in Melbourne, Australia, at a tournament beginning December 12. It was way back in 1956 that India achieved its best ever results in football. The national team entered the semi-finals of the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, the first Asian nation to do so. Surely, players of that era had ‘magic feet’.