Ten teams from across the country take home the JFK League Championship Trophies

Press Release

India, February 18, 2018

Ten teams from across the country take home the JFK League Championship Trophies

Held annually to celebrate grassroots talent, the JFK League brought together little boys and girls from under-resourced schools showcasing not just football but critical life skills.

With more than 900 games played in over 50 game days that spanned between the months of November and February, the JFK League 2017-18 brought together 3000 school students from 5 cities of India in a display of the grit to win, grace to accept defeat and of course, score goals.

Over 280 teams comprising children between ages 6 – 16 from the cities of Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune fought it out at the regional qualifiers before 46 of those teams made it to the National Championship held here in Mumbai on Sunday, 18 February 2018.

Organised by Just For Kicks, a non-profit start-up geared towards alternative education and changing the attitude towards sport in India, the League concluded on Sunday, with 10 teams of little boys and girls taking home with them the Championship trophy within their respective categories of Under 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16.

Adopting an in-school intervention model, Just For Kicks partners with low-income public and private schools to enable children through its life skills program using football by providing them with the necessary resources to play.

Speaking on behalf of the organisers, Mr. Vikas Plakkot, Co-Founder of Just For Kicks, said “As part of the program with our partner schools, this pan-India football league offers children, both, exposure to sport and competition simultaneously. Ensuring that our motto of Everyone Plays brings football and life skills to the fore, we believe that access to opportunity, irrespective of gender or social status, is of paramount importance."

The JFK League this year has been supported mainly by organisations like BookASmile-A BookMyShow Initiative, L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering Pvt. Ltd., and Axis Bank Foundation.

National Championship

Football for all

It was the battle of the best across the five cities at the National Finals with over 400 children vying for the championship in each of the ten categories. The championship trophies were taken home by the following teams:

U-8 Boys - Kothrud Wolves (Pune)

U-8 Girls - Pashan Panthers (Pune)

U-10 Boys - Ideal Lions (Pune)

U-10 Girls - PCMC Strikers (Pune)

U-12 Boys - Kothrud Wolves (Pune)

U-12 Girls - Kothrud Wolves (Pune)

U-14 Boys - Pebble Creek Peace Corps (Hyderabad)

U-14 Girls - Sonba Raiders (Pune)

U-16 Boys - iTeach Saints (Pune)

U-16 Girls - Elia Devils (Mumbai)

Just For Kicks

Not just about the goals

Involved with 3000 children spread over 101 schools, Just For Kicks is a school intervention program working towards teaching children invaluable lessons of commitment, confidence, self-awareness, and grit, through a life skills-based football curriculum.

The organisation works with schools catering to students from the bottom of the economic pyramid, in the five Indian cities of Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Pune.

We begin working with children, both boys and girls, as young as 6 years old and continue training with them till the age of 16, through an ongoing collaboration with their schools. Started in 2011 with a simple idea, “Everyone Plays”, Just For Kicks uses the field to provide a third place to children, one beyond home and school, and in the process, unearth some of the brightest talents in the country.

Website: www.jfkindia.org

Facebook: www.facebook.com/JFKIndia

Twitter: www.twitter.com/JFK_India

Instagram: www.instagram.com/justforkicksindia