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YFC Rurka Kalan organized the opening ceremony of the charitable initiative ‘Educational Football League’ in Rurka Kalan, Jalandhar. The initiative is a brainchild of YFC President Gurmangal Dass Sony who desires to spread the league all over Punjab. The ceremony was a musical-cum-sports-cum-political affair which saw an audience of approximately 5,000 spectators at the Youth and Sports complex, Rurka Kalan.
The event kicked off with an oath taking ceremony. Rajvir Singh, a 12-year-old boy from Attari border and the star of last year’s EFL edition, took an oath and made the plea ‘Nashe to door raho, Padho, Likho aura age badho’ (stay away from drugs; instead, read, write and make progress) to everyone present in the stadium. A host of pigeons was then released into the air to signify peace.
Track suits were given free of cost to all the teams who are participating from various parts of Punjab such as Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar. The most distant team had come from Attari, which is situated on the Indo-Pak border near Wagah, Amritsar. All the teams showcased their team names in a marching ceremony in front of the avid sports fans across the stadium. Food and beverages were provided to everybody.
The 7-a-side exhibition football match
Oympian and Padam Shree awardee Sardar Pargat Singh hoisted the EFL flag, which was followed by the playing of the national anthem. Soon afterwards, a 7-a-side football exhibition match was organized between Rurka Kalan Football Academy and Capital Local Area Bank Football Academy. Eventually, Rurka Kalan Football Academy won by a solitary goal.
A circle-style kabaddi match was also organized between Gurbachan Singh Club Puadada and Guruhar Rai Sports Club Dugga where Guruhar Rai Sports Club was beaten by a difference of 5 points in a 30-25 result.
Musical performances were given by leading Punjabi singers Rai Jhujar, Lehmber Hussainpuri and Gurwinder Singh from ‘Voice of Punjab’ and Balraj Bilga, while Garry Sandhu hosted the overall programme. The event also saw the attendance of Radio Jockey Himanshu Bharadwaj who hosts the famous show ‘Jiyo Dil Se’ on 94.3 FM.
The distinguished guests who attended the event
In addition to Sardar Pargat Singh, Chief Secretary of Sports in Punjab Mr. Pawan Kumar Tinu, MP from Canada Mr. Jasbir Sandhu, IG of Punjab Police Mr. Ishwar Chandra, Member of Rajya Sabha Mr. Avinash Rai Khanna, Managing Director of Capital Local Area Bank Mr. Sarabjit Singh Samra and NRI from Canada Mr. Kulwant Singh Bittu were the main chief guests of the event. All of these distinguished personalities supported and contributed monetarily and non-monetarily to the academy for the cause of promoting football among underprivileged children.
