Jharkhand witnessed its first taste of competitive Footy action as the ARFAI Jharkhand State Championship kicked off on the 21^st of October 2014 at Mitra Mandal Ground, Ranchi under bright sunny skies. 10 teams with 12 players each, and all between the ages of 12-16 years, participated in the inaugural tournament. The hard work put in by the ARFAI coaches and MB CYLs was purely evident as the players showed skill and maturity well beyond their tender years.

The dexterity with which the players from Jharkhand were playing had left Helen Mell, ARFAI ambassador,gobsmacked. The four teams which went through to the semi finals were Crows, Giants, Tigers, Bombers. Crows played against the Giants and the Bombers against the Tigers. Bombers and Crows qualified for the finals after crushing their opponents in the semi finals.

The championship trophy was lifted by The Crows after they defeated The Bombers in a gripping final which ended 32-16 in favour of the champions. Amar Roshan Bara of The Crows shone the brightest of them all and he was deservingly voted the Player of the Tournament. Sachit Ekka of The Tigers and Navin Thapa of The Bombers received the award for Best Mark and Best Goal respectively. Sudhashil Mitra, ARFAI Game Development Manager and Regional Development Manager and also one of the coaches under the ASOP initiative was visibly pleased – “The skills of the players here in Jharkhand are just remarkable. If they can continue playing like this they will not just impress spectators in India but will also impress spectators in Australia when they will be selected to play for the Indian team in the International Cup ” The tournament has set a marker for a promising future indeed and one should not be surprised to see the boys from Jharkhand punching above their weight soon.