CHENNAI: For decades, Vyasarpadi has been only known for its rampant crime. But today, the locality has another identity- football. In some ways, residents say that football was more than an obsession in the locality and this was quite visible as the children in the area eagerly awaited the inaugural match of the ‘Soccer for Child Rights Tournament’ on Friday.
Jointly organised by Child Rights and You (CRY) and the Slum Children Sports Talents Education Development Society (SCSTEDS), the tournament is in its fourth season and is an event that the locality looks forward to every year. Suma Ravi, director, South, CRY, said that when the tournament started they had just four teams but were close to 24 teams now. “Football is not just a game, here it has changed lives. Prior to football taking over this town, the pass percentage in schools was only six per cent and now it is 98 per cent,” she said.
Besides better literacy in schools, the locality has also had 18 new public distribution sectors and six anganwadis and child labour figures have also dropped drastically as more and more children take to football. When Umapathy N, founder of SCSTEDS, set it up, he had 14 kids to train, “Now we have people coming in every day. Playing football also helps the children perform well in school. They become better individuals as well. Since I was born and brought up here, I understand what their needs are and we do our best to adhere to them,” he said.
Thirteen-year olds K M Latha, Devi Shri, R Vijaylakshmi and V Darshini all want to become professional players when they grow up, some like Ronaldo, some like Medoza. They don’t miss a day’s practice; ask them if they’re better than the boys. Darshini says, “ We beat them every single time,” with a grin.
The chief guest at the inauguration was celebrated film director Pa Ranjith who has a special place in the hearts of the Vyasarpadi residents because of his movie ‘Madras’ that threw light on the locality and its love for football.