Subroto Cup's 65th Edition: 107 Teams, 90 Scholarships And India's Search For Football's Next Generation
This year Subroto Cup will be played between August 18 and September 24. A total of 107 teams will take part - 38 in junior boys, 35 in sub-junior boys and 35 in the girls' category. Teams from Sri Lanka will also participate this year
India are ranked 138th in the FIFA men's world rankings. Yet this is also the country that hosts the world's largest school football tournament. That contradiction was hard to ignore when the 65th edition of the Subroto Cup was announced on Wednesday. This year it will be played between August 18 and September 24. A total of 107 teams will take part - 38 in junior boys, 35 in sub-junior boys and 35 in the girls' category. Teams from Sri Lanka will also participate this year.
Unlike in previous years, foreign teams' participation has gone down. Air Force pins it down to the ongoing war situation in Central Asia.
The matches will be spread across five venues in Delhi and three in Bengaluru.
Bhaichung Bhutia, Robin Singh, Nirmal Chhetri, Dalima Chibber have all come through this tournament, which has seen over 30,000 school teams participate over the years. The numbers are impressive. But the real significance of the Subroto Cup lies in what happens after the final whistle.
Indian football has long struggled with the gap between potential and opportunity. The Subroto Cup tries to bridge some of that gap.
Air Marshal S Sivakumar believes the tournament also needs to be seen by a wider audience. "At the moment India is a one sport country," he said, while encouraging more people to come and watch the matches. The matches will be played across 5 grounds in Delhi and 3 in Bengaluru.
The organisers are putting more money behind this 65th edition of the tournament too. The total cash prize is ?37.7 lakh. Interestingly, 90 promising players will receive one-time scholarships. The number has gone up from 75.
But Sivakumar says the scholarship is not really about the money.
"It is not a big amount. But it is just a recognition of that individual," he said.
The bigger objective is to identify talent early and give players the encouragement and coaching they need.
"What is important is identifying that individual and getting them the right coaching," Sivakumar said.
Former winners and scholarship recipients have gone on to play at senior level, including for India, while others have found roles in the wider football ecosystem. AIFF coaches and club talent scouts will watch these young guns in action, hoping to find academy players.
There is also a push to make the competition fairer. Organisers say they will be stricter about over-aged players this year. The principle is simple, children should compete against others in their own age group. None of this guarantees India a better FIFA ranking. But it can help create a wider pool of players, with the hope finding 11 shining diamonds one day.