Shillong, Oct 10: The highly successful Reliance Foundation Youth Sports national football tournament made its debut in Shillong on Tuesday, with OM Memorial Higher Secondary School registering the first victory.
As many as 55 schools and colleges have fielded 72 teams in the four categories this year. The Junior Boys section with 40 entries has seen the most number of registrations while Senior Boys has also attracted 19 teams. Six teams will be seen in action in the College Boys and 7 in the School Girls categories to make it an impressive lineup.
The winners in each category will represent Shillong in the national championship to be held later this year.
In the inaugural match at the JN Stadium, OM Memorial rode on a late strike for their 1-0 victory over Brookside Adventist Higher Secondary School in a Junior Boys’ qualifying match. Sumarbha Bareh fired the winner in the 64th minute to win the man of the match award.
The RFYS tournament was launched last year in the eight cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Kochi, Guwahati, Pune and Goa. It has extended to eight more cities this year, with Jamshedpur, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Shillong, Aizwal, Imphal and Hyderabad competing for their respective city titles.
The RFYS, with Mrs Nita Ambani as the power and force behind it, is steadfastly working towards making Indian football a major force with the Indian Super League initiative at the senior level and the Reliance Foundation Young Champs at hte grassroots level.
Over 60,000 kids will be seen in action in 30 centres across the country. By December this year, a staggering 6 million children are expected to be touched with this grassroots initiative.
RESULT (qualifier):
Junior Boys: OM Roy Memorial Higher Secondary School bt Brookside Adventist Higher Secondary School 1-0.