This article first appeared in DNA India on the 10th of June, 2018, written by Shashank Rao
Hardcore fans of football are ready with their jerseys and gears, listing the timetable of their favourite country’s matches this Football World Cup. But, there are some who don’t just watch football but live the game. DNA spoke to a couple of these Mumbaikars who are not just ardent fans of the ‘most popular sport’, but are also trying to improve the game’s popularity in India.Dhruv Pandey, 27, a resident of Bandra, has been playing football since childhood. He did his masters from Columbia University in the United States where he played soccer for the team. Here, in Mumbai, he plays for a couple of football teams when he takes time out of work. He has also coached kids. All this seems to be normal, but it is his work that brings about the change in which youngsters look at football.He left his cushy life back in the US and returned to work for a NGO called Enabling Leadership Foundation. He is part of the programme called ‘Just For Kicks’, where underprivileged kids across Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai receive training.“We use football as a tool to teach life skills, values of team building, how people of different race and colours play in harmony. This World Cup, one of the kids, named Rudresh, 13, from our NGO has gone to Russia as part of ‘football for friendship’ programme. He hwent there as a ‘reporter’ after his article on how football changed his life received appreciation. There, he will play with other kids from other countries,” said Pandey.
Original Article
Hardcore fans of football are ready with their jerseys and gears, listing the timetable of their favourite country’s matches this Football World Cup. But, there are some who don’t just watch football but live the game. DNA spoke to a couple of these Mumbaikars who are not just ardent fans of the ‘most popular sport’, but are also trying to improve the game’s popularity in India.Dhruv Pandey, 27, a resident of Bandra, has been playing football since childhood. He did his masters from Columbia University in the United States where he played soccer for the team. Here, in Mumbai, he plays for a couple of football teams when he takes time out of work. He has also coached kids. All this seems to be normal, but it is his work that brings about the change in which youngsters look at football.He left his cushy life back in the US and returned to work for a NGO called Enabling Leadership Foundation. He is part of the programme called ‘Just For Kicks’, where underprivileged kids across Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai receive training.“We use football as a tool to teach life skills, values of team building, how people of different race and colours play in harmony. This World Cup, one of the kids, named Rudresh, 13, from our NGO has gone to Russia as part of ‘football for friendship’ programme. He hwent there as a ‘reporter’ after his article on how football changed his life received appreciation. There, he will play with other kids from other countries,” said Pandey.
Original Article
