PUNE, July 9: The first week of June seemed to be a happy start to women's football in the city. It was during this time that the Maharashtra State Women's Football Association received an invitation from the International Youth Soccer Federation in Denmark to participate in the Dana Cup soccer tournament '99.It was indeed surprising as the invitation was in response to a casual inquiry letter from the association earlier this year. But, today, after more than a month, the dream of the association is turning into a nightmare. Reason? They have not been able to raise the funds for the air charges of the 14-member team. And with only 16 days left for the tournament to commence at Hjorring, the association along with the selected girls from last year's Pune university team are cursing their luck.Says DW Chinchore of the association, ``The girls are all from middle-class families. We have asked them to get whatever they can while we are also trying our best.''But, sadly, Chinchore feels that there is no chance of the team's leaving for Hjorring. ``We have been trying to get sponsors. But seeing the current recession and the Kargil conflict that is still going on, I have my doubts about it.``The only chance that we have is if the State government comes out to help us. We have written a request letter to the Chief Minister and that's our only hope now.''The Dana Cup organising committee have listed the Maharashtra team in the Class Q section in the draw. Over 770 teams from 48 countries are expected to participate in the boys and girls section of the tourney. Dana Cup is the largest international soccer tournament for youth players in the world. This is the 18th edition of the tournament. It may be recalled that India's Mohun Bagan (Calcutta) had returned victorious last year in the Class C category.The Selected Team: Kalyani Pahad (Pune), Vaishali Mishra (Jalgaon), Kirti Wagle (Mumbai), Hemangi Gaikwad (Mumbai), Bhavna Gangurde (Mumbai), Lila Shaikh, Sunita Rekame, Sharmila Wadekar, Suzen, Jai Gandhi, Mrunal Vaidya, Sandhya Joshi and Renuka Jadhav (all from Pune).
