The Magic Feet Football Club owned by the Bangalore Schools Sports Foundation has decided to hire underprivileged children from the northeast region of India and give them an opportunity to play international football tournaments.
Boys hailing from remote areas of Northeast and other parts of the country, are being groomed by Elvis Joseph, a former athlete.
Players in the under-17 team, who recently played in the Melbourne Friendship Cup, are boys from the most remote villages of the North East. They were professionally trained under the 'Boys Sports Coy' of the Indian Army.
"I had selected boys from all over India from the city and we also gad a boys from the boys sports company where you see the boys are playing right now and these boys are from the most remote villages of northeast and they are very underprivileged background come from their parents are farmer and some of the don't have job they come from the most difficult background But the good part is by the god grace it's a scheme that is initiated by the sports authority of India and the venture of the Indian Army," said Elvis Joseph, the founder of the Magic Club
Magic Feet FC had also participated in 'the Great Wall Cup' of Beijing last year and won the tournament.
"I feel very good. When I was at home, I played only in a small tournament, but, when my coach brought me to Bangalore, he taught me different skills and techniques, and after that, I started playing very well," said Basant Bhutia, a player from Sikkim.
The Northeast region is an acknowledged sporting powerhouse. More such efforts are needed to provide a platform to budding players from the Northeast and the rest of the country.