Amid all the summer camps for sports that are being organised in the city, one club stands out for giving importance to local talent without any commercial motive. CPWD Residential Football Academy will be holding its yearly free 15-day football summer camp from May 10 at Kendriya Vidyalaya’s ground, Thirumangalam. However, the camp will be only for local talent and its current players.
Why this exclusiveness? Explains coach, T Kumaresan, 42, a former national football player, “Our club is service-oriented and meant for local talent only. We charge as little as `100 per month as fee. We don’t charge a penny from three of our players, as their parents can’t afford it.” Other than the meagre fee, the club offers breakfast consisting of milk, eggs, bread and fruit on practice days. Other summer camps in the city are charging anywhere between `500 and `10,000, depending on the nature of the sports.
The 50 players in the club are looking forward to playing in the summer camp, as only once a year, do they get to play football at a stretch.
“We can only practice every Sunday morning because on other days the players, who are mostly students of Kendriya Vidyalaya, have to attend classes which start early morning,” says Kumaresan, an employee of a government bank. “This summer camp will help fine tune the basics of football among the students, as each day we will focus on a particular aspect of the game,” he adds.
If you were wondering whether a once-in-a-week practice and a yearly camp could produce results, a look at the club’s records should put any doubts to rest. Over the five years, five players have advanced to playing for the under-13 sub-junior nationals for Tamil Nadu and more are in the waiting, says Kumaresan.
Assisted by four former national football players, Kumaresan says he is doing his bit to popularise the sport in the locality. “Despite the challenges of inadequate finances and no ground to call our own, it’s the love of football which has kept us together,” says Kumaresan. “We are glad to do our bit for the game.”
