53rd Subroto Cup to kick off from Monday

The prestigious Inter-School tournament, one of the oldest event in the country which began in 1960, will see 78 teams in various disciplines playing 125 matches in a span of two months.

For the first time, the tournament will also have a nationwide inter-school girls competition, where 17 school teams, representing all the regions of the country will fight it out for the title. There will also be a team from Afghanistan in the competition.

"So far teams from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and other South Asian countries have taken part in the Subroto Cup. These teams received tremendous support from football lovers and we felt that it was the right time to bring in teams from Europe," Air marshal J N Burma told reporters here.

"We plan to introduce U-14 girls tournament in the future so that we can identify 40 talented girls who will be called 'Suborto Girls' and are modelled like the Subroto Boys. These girls will be groomed and their skills honed by the SMSES," added Burma, an avid football lover.

The winners of the under-14 boys, under-17 girls and under-17 boys will be awarded Rs 2lakhs, Rs 2 lakhs and Rs 3 lakhs, while the runners-up will get Rs 1 lakh, 1 lakh and 1.5 lakhs.

Besides, 25 outstanding players from each category will be awarded with a one-time scholarship of Rs 20,000 for junior boys and Rs 10,000 for sub-junior boys. From this year, 25 outstanding under-17 girls will also receive a scholarship of Rs 10,000.