Army today flagged off a capacity building tour of 20 young footballers from Kashmir, during which they would play matches against and interact with players of leading football clubs in Kolkata.
"A capacity building tour of youths from Kashmir was flagged off from Srinagar under the aegis of Chinar Corps of the Indian Army. A group of 20 promising footballers selected during Kupwara Football Cup conducted in August 2014 were sent to get professional exposure with leading football clubs of Kolkata," an army spokesman said here.
The trip commenced from BB Cantonment after a brief ceremony, the spokesman said, adding the tour would provide an opportunity to the young players to not only hone their football skills but also witness the mechanics of being trained as international footballers.
"The itinerary of the tour is packed with multitude of exposures to various facets of football as a sport including a series of matches, interaction with expert players of local as well as national level clubs like East Bengal Club," he said.
The spokesman said the team of players from Kupwara town and surrounding areas was picked up based on talent exhibited during Kupwara Football Cup held in August 2014.
The tournament was organised based on Collaborative Model with Army providing back up support to the District Youth and Sports Department to take on the organisational part, the spokesman said.
He said considering the enthusiasm of the locals towards the sport, the Corps Commander of the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps had promised the people during the prize distribution ceremony that an opportunity would be given for the budding talent of the area to get quality exposure with leading football clubs of Kolkata.
He said the tour was planned to enhance sporting skills as well as to help the young sportspersons to identify new avenues in sports.
