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Kerala Bombers

Posted on Saturday, June 14, 2014 by ARFAI,

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The Kerala Bombers came into the Footy frame in 2011 when Rajeev Tharani, secretary of Kozhikode District Olympic Association, got in touch with Sudip expressing his interest in growing Footy in Kerala. The talks were soon followed by Footy clinics in Kozhikode, facilitated by Rajeev, who also holds the secretary post in many other sports associations in Kozhikode. Sudip travelled 22 hrs on the bus from Mumbai to Kozhikode to deliver the 1st Aussie Rules training session in Kerala. Very soon Rajeev was organisingg clinics by himself in the city. Such was the swift progress under the enthusiasm of Rajeev that the Australian Rules Football Association of Kerala was registered and Aussie Rules was accepted by the Kerala Olympic Association.

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As the national championship in 2012 loomed, Kozhikode looked all set to produce 2 teams to participate in the inaugural meet. The athletic build and experience over the other teams came to the fore and the North Kozhikode Bombers and the South Kozhikode Bombers contested the finals with the northern counterparts shining through in the end.

The 2013 edition of the national championships again saw the Kerala Bombers in action, this time as one team representing the state. Although they did not get to the title this time, some of their players showed enough potential to suggest they could make the cut for the Indian Tigers team in the future.

There is every effort being put in to expand the Footy scene in Kerala beyond Kozhikode, and it shouldn’t be a surprise to see the number of quality players from the state follow an upward curve. For the time being however, under the undeterred vigour of players like Abdul Ashraf, Amal Dev and Nihal Ahammed, Kozhikode looks set to produce another quality team which will be raring to go at the national championship in November 2014.

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