Over 50,000 kids in Chennaiyin FC’s grassroots programme

Over 50,000 children, a majority of them being girls, are part of Chennaiyin Football Club’s ambitious grassroots programme, co-owner of the club Vita Dani disclosed this on Friday evening.

“We like to bet on young talent and will be more than happy to absorb any talented little girl into our ecosystem,” she promised, while speaking at an exclusive webinar for women called She Is Gold organised by Sports For All.

Featuring a power-packed panel of ladies who have all made it big in the world of sport, including Go Sports Foundation’s director Deepthi Bopaiah, Corvuss American Academy’s Deeksha Kumar, AM Sports Law’s Aahna Mehrotra and Women In Sport’s Vaidehi Vaidya, they discussed the various challenges faced by women entrepreneurs and athletes in Indian sport.

“In fact, Indian women are leading the country’s charge in the world of sport simply because today’s girls want to excel at anything and everything that they do,” she added.

SFA’s founder Rishikesh Joshi, who moderated the show, pointed out that it had taken an Indian woman exactly 100 years to win the first Olympic medal for the country. “But since Karnam Malleswari achieved that breakthrough with a bronze at the Sydney Games, three other women have won medals at the Olympics,” he said.

Each panelist exhorted girls to take advantage of the opportunities and platforms now available in the field of sport to fulfil their dreams.

She Is Gold is part of SFA’s multi-part webinars series aimed at promoting sport at the grassroots level. The next one called Fulfilling India’s Olympic Dream will be held on June 23.