From the slums to top league football

CHENNAI: They practised on empty stomachs, wore possibly the cheapest boots and didn’t have any sponsors backing them, but these boys from the slums of Vyasarpadi finally made it to the senior division of the Chennai Football League. Their journey is nothing short of a miracle. Call it a dream come true, a testimony to their spirit of sportsmanship or a telling example of how football can be a tool of social transformation.These boys belong to a club called Slum Children Sports Talent Education Development Society (SCSTED) founded in 2000 by former football players like N Thangaraj, N Umapathy and C Sureshkumar who used football as a tool of social transformation among the children of the slums of Vyasarpadi.N Thangaraj, founder and coach of SCSTED, said, “We qualified for the senior division on Sunday. It is one of the greatest moments of my life. It is a dream come true to be one of the top ten teams of the Chennai Football League.”Udyakumar, 19, who has played mid off for this team for the past ten years and is a Viscom student at Sathyabama University said, “Compared to other teams that are heavily sponsored we had nothing. But we did have one boost -- the spirit to win -- that kept us going. Our players wore the cheapest possible boots, worth `350, but that didn’t stop us from winning. Winning upped our morale and now we want to win more.”Junior captain Thiagarajan, 19, who plays right defence, said, “It was a phenomenal experience, qualifying for the senior division. In 2009 we qualified for Division 4. Every year we have progressed. Yesterday we made it to the senior division. We owe this to our three coaches, who kept us motivated throughout.”To remain in top form for the season opening in a couple of months, they need to be continuously on the practice field. “Most times we practise on empty stomachs in the mornings and after the practice session we go straight to college or the work place,” said Thiagarajan. Though they are in need of sponsors to keep the ball rolling, their pride and belief in their sportsmanship made them reluctant to admit it.After some prodding Satharaj, 18, who plays forward said, “We have never felt that we are inferior to teams who have sponsors. But at this point it would be helpful if sponsors come forward to help us with the food, boots, travel and football gear.”Football has been life-changing for these boys from the slums of Vyasarpadi -- preventing them from dropping out of school, offering them opportunities to enter college campuses and making them globetrotters.SCSTED boys now dream of becoming champions of the Chennai Football League and then the Indian Premier League.