Jamshedpur, Dec. 9: The first-ever under-10 football tournament organized by Tata Steel kicked off at the Armoury Ground on Wednesday.
Altogether 750 energetic kids from 30 teams across Jharkhand and Odisha will showcase their football prowess on Armoury Ground, which plays host to all the 53 matches of the tournament.
All the kids participating in the tourney come from Tata Steel-backed football coaching centers in Jharkhand and Odisha. Presently, 30 such centers in the two states are training under-10 boys in various nuances of football.
A number of boys trained at these football centers have made it big.
Sameer Murmu, Jairam Hembrom, Azad Karmakar and Budhu Mardi, all from Gurma Centre, joined Army Boys Sports Company, Bihar Regiment Centre-Danapur, an infantry of Indian Army, in September 2015.
Likewise, in November 2015, Laxman Baskey and Chaitan Hansdah from Kolabira Centre, Sanjay Mumru and Akash Singh from Gurma Centre were selected to represent TFA in I-League, the country�s premier football competition.
With an aim to nurture young sporting rural talents and to instill confidence, discipline and team-play in them, Tata Steel initiated under-10 football coaching in 2012.
Earlier, the event was kicked off by Sunil Bhaskaran, vice -president, Corporate Services, Tata Steel. Biren Bhuta, chief CSR, Tata Steel, Ms Dilith Castleton, head, empowerment was also present during the event.