Star-studded match as budding footballers join Tiger Shroff

The Shooting Stars event kicked off Friday evening with Tiger Shroff engaging in a warm up session with selected students, followed by a match between two teams whose players comprised players from ISL leagues, coaches and young talents.

So far, 120 students have been shortlisted for the Mahadeva programme, of which 60 students are set to be selected in the coming days, who will be awarded with a five year residential scholarship from the Government of Maharashtra on December 14, mentored by footballer Lionel Messi.
The selected footballers arrived in Mumbai earlier on November 27, where they have been practicing daily for one-and-a-half hours in the morning and evening.

Tanvish Khairnar, a 13-year-old footballer who was selected in Pune, said, “In Pune, we would get to play with the best players there and now, we are getting the opportunity to play with the best player of the entire state. The aggression of the game here in Mumbai is much more and we are getting the opportunity to play with the best of coaches.”

Maneet Badrewar (13), a Sambhajinagar based footballer said, “We don’t have any such opportunities and projects back home. We don’t even have proper grounds, but here, we are getting that experience and even the craze for the game is much more.”

Devyani Shinde, a 13-year-old shortlisted footballer from Pune, “While playing with other girls our age, you find out where you stand. You get a sense of your own endurance and agility as the intensity is much more. This project is very beneficial for us as the scholarship will give us the scope to play with the best of the teams.”

As the match unfolded Friday evening, elated parents of the shortlisted youngsters filled the stands at Cooperage to cheer on the group.

Thirteen-year-old footballer, Harshita Singh’s father, Vibhash Singh said, “My daughter started playing the game when she was seven. She participated in at least six different games before finding her footing in football on her seventh try. It is important for parents to support kids in sports that they actually find joy in.”