22 teams for Abhijit Memorial Under-17 soccer meet

Pune, Nov 9 (UNI) As many as 22 teams have confirmed their participation in the first Abhijit Kadam Memorial invitational prize money Under-17 soccer tournament which gets underway here from November 14 to 21.

Briefing reporters here today, Abhijit Kadam Memorial Foundation managing trustee Vishwajeet Kadam said the objective behind introducing the meet was not only to revive soccer at the grass roots level, but also discover new talents.

Schools like SSPMS, Dr Erine Nagarwala, J N Petit, Vidya Bhavan, Sardar Dastur, Anglo Urdu, and two international schools -- Mercedes Benz and RIMS, are among the 22 teams which have confirmed their participation, Mr Kadam informed.

Kadam said the winners will receive a cash prize of Rs 5,000, a trophy, and gift vouchers worth Rs 750 for each player, while the runner-up will receive Rs 3,000, a trophy and gift vouchers of Rs 500 for each player. The gift vouchers are intended to help players buy football kits, Kadam said.

The ''Player of the Tournament'' and the ''Best Goalkeeper'' will be presented with gift vouchers of Rs 1000 each.

The talents discovered during the tournament will be groomed under expert coaches in a soccer academy that is to be launched in Pune on February 27, next year. ''We are getting inputs from Goa Football Association and the Tata Football Academy for the academy,'' Kadam informed.

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