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Journalism of Courage
The overcast skies at the Sector 42 football ground produced a gloomy mood in the camp even as several players tried to lighten up the sullen faces around them with their antics. Meanwhile,sitting in the dugout,coach Harjinder Singh signalled the players to continue the training session. He seemed to be growing fidgety with each passing minute. Clearly something was bothering him.In another half an hour,Harjinder came out of the dugout smiling. The message which he had just received called for nothing less than celebration. The news of successful surgery on Samuel Lalmuanpuia’s tendon brought the smiles back on the faces of the players. In the last couple of months,from time after time,the Chandigarh Football Academy players and coaches have suffered one setback after the other. Firstly,the exodus of players continued as Nishu Kumar,one of the best talents at Harjinder’s disposal,left the academy to join AIFF’s regional football academy in Mumbai. This took the tally to nine players who have left the academy in last one year. Secondly,lack of competitive tournaments in the last one year has stalled the development of players and put Harjinder’s dream of taking Chandigarh football to unprecedented heights on a backfoot. In a situation like this,news of Samuel’s road to recovery meant a lot for Harjinder.
“The reputation of Chandigarh Football Academy is at stake. The damage has already been done as we didn’t take part in any tournament in the last one year. Nine players from the playing eleven have left the academy and that leave us as a weak side. In the last two years despite medicals being conducted on two occasions,no new players were added to the senior squad as they failed the medical tests. The question is how far will we reach in the future tournaments with the limited resources we have in our hands?,”questioned Harjinder,chief coach at CFA. Harjinder has come up with a valid point. In a month’s time from now,the Chandigarh Football Academy will begin their campaign,their quest to once again assert their supremacy. The first tournament they will play is the Administrator’s Challenge Cup,starting in the last week of September.
Almost a year ago,the rejuvinated Chandigarh side with the return of their two most influential players- Daniel Lalhlimpuia and Khiangte Lalramzauva,had won the title. Now with both Daniel and Lalramzauva serving the national under 19 team and several players missing,Harjinder has no other option but to turn to Plan B. His plan is to field a team mixed with players from both the junior and senior teams. Left with only 15 players to choose from the senior team,Harjinder came up with this plan to give opportunity to junior players to rise to the occasion. “We have several talented players from the junior team who are physically strong and can serve us well in the forthcoming tournaments. We are training hard as we will take on top teams from all parts of the country. Though we will be lacking sting in the attack,we will give our best to come up with the best result,” voiced Harjinder. However,he is already looking into the future and working on the plans to participate in the Subroto Mukherjee Cup in both the under 17 and under 14 categories. To give much-needed match practice to the players,the CFA team has been playing competitive matches with the senior army team players.
“The players are hungry to do well in the upcoming tournaments. However,they needed matches to prepare for the tournaments. I am glad the army team is playing against them. It will be a good experience for the young players to take part in the Subroto Cup. Despite no exposure trips and tournaments,we will give our best,” he added. The senior team reached the quarterfinals in last year’s edition of Subroto Cup whereas the academy did not take part in under 14 tournament.
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