By Joseph Solomon,

AIFF Media Team

JABALPUR: Even as most of us may prefer to rest in the quilts or have a seat around the fireplace when the outside temperature is minus one degrees, young girls in Kashmir prefers to go out and play Football.

It is no secret that Football in the State of Jammu and Kashmir is on an upward surge encompassing the young as well as the old and breaking the stereotypes of gender, religion, caste and creed.

While Men’s Football is on a boom courtesy LoneStar Kashmir FC’s participation in the 2^ND Division League, Women’s Football in the valley has also been met with euphoria and excitement extending the horizons of Women’s Football in India as a whole.

In an attempt to capitalize on the growing popularity of Football in the valley amongst girls, All India Football Federation in association with the Jammu and Kashmir State Association organized a Grassroots Festival in Srinagar, as part of the FIFA Live Your Goals campaign, which is engineered to foster interest towards the ‘Beautiful Game’ amongst girls whilst extending the outreach of Women’s Football in India.

Over 80 young girls participated in the Grassroots Course and indulged in various Footballing activities under the close supervision of Indian Women’s Senior Team Head Coach Sajid Dar.

“To see so many girls come and play Football is such a heartening sight. And to see them play with passion and glitter in their eyes is an unparalleled feeling,” Sajid told www.the-aiff.com.

“The AIFF is doing its best for Women’s Football in India and the ‘Live Your Goals’ campaign which focuses to foster interest amongst the youth is a testament of that.”

Even a temperature of -1 degree Celsius could not deter the vociferous spirits of the young girls, who fell in love with the sport in their first meeting, let alone hamper the Festival.

“The girls erupted with joy when they started to kick the ball. All of them forgot about the freezing temperature and lost themselves in the moment of playing Football.

“One could almost sense the positive and energetic vibe that the girls were transmitting. The energy was so immense, powerful and emotional too,” Sajid went on.

Not only that, the young girls sported a ‘Hijab’ to indulge themselves in Football, hence, sending out a clear testament that Football in the Valley is being embraced by open arms with all religions and breaking the barriers of stereotypes in the process.

“The initiative of popularizing the game amongst Females has been widely appreciated by every fraternity. It is a new dawn of Football in the Valley and we hope to harness it,” Sajid added.

The cherry on top of the cake was perhaps the fact that the Grassroots Festival was conducted by 23 newly qualified Female Grassroots Coaches of the Kashmir Division.

“Football is certainly being received with massive appreciation by the people of the valley. The future is exciting and interesting.”