Jharkhand Footy Association (JFA) organised their 3rd state championship at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Ranchi on 22nd January 2023, marking the return for participants to Footy in the state after more than a two and half years gap. While the ‘Dhanbad’ district team won the senior division title defeating Bokaro district, while the ‘Ranchi’ district teams emerged winners for both the junior s and girls’ division, defeating Khunti district teams in both the games.
4 districts participated at the tournament including 120 boys and girls who played all day to win the trophies in their respective divisions. While many players displayed great skills in the game, in senior division the ‘Player of the Tournament’ trophy was awarded to Amar Roshan Bara from Dhanbad district and the ‘Best Mark’ was taken by Deepak Oraon from Bokaro district. In the junior division, the ‘Player of the Tournament’ award was won by Shubhas Bilung from Ranchi district and the ‘Best Mark’ award went to Rohit Khalko from Khunti district. In the girl’s division, the ‘Player of the Tournament’ was Alisha Tigga from Ranchi district and ‘Best Mark’ trophy went to Manisha Kachhap from Khunti district.
Shubhas was the best player in the junior division voted by all officials unanimously. He kept his personal practice continued even during Covid which is the secret to his fitness. Bansi Nayak and Nimay Tigga, former Jharkhand Crows junior team members have progressed from junior to senior division, where they are the youngest players in the team. They displayed excellent body technique and footy skills in the game and are looking forward to win the upcoming ARFAI Zonal Championship in Ranchi. Alisha Tigga has shown tremendous improvement in the game and looks like she will be ready to train the new players.
The locals did enjoy watching the match all day long. Few senior citizens also came forward enquiring about the rules of the sport to understand the game better. Hoping to see some senior citizens bring their grandchildren to introduce the game soon. The Chief Guest for the event Mr. Ajay Nath Shah Deo, former Deputy Mayor of Ranchi and Currently Vice-President of Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA), encouraged the boys to play the game with full enthusiasm and be an inspiration to the youth. Local media was also present at the venue to live telecast the final match on their prime-time news.
Going forward, the state association are looking forward to focus on introducing Indi-kick (under 14s) programs in a few schools that can inculcate Footy in their curriculum so that the sport starts growing form the grassroot level in Jharkhand.
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