Express News Service By

KOCHI: It was a splash of yellow on the synthetic turf of the Regional Sports Centre at Kadavanthra, where Kochi-based Kerala Blasters FC, the Indian Super League (ISL) franchise, kick-started its ‘Grassroots’ project on Tuesday.

Around 200 children, aged below 12 years, from 20 different schools/football academies in Ernakulam took part in the inauguration of the project, which aims to reach out to nearly 1.5 lakh young children and stoke the passion for football in them.

Before the official kick-off, the Blasters squad, headed by marquee player and manager David James, interacted and played with upcoming talents. The players autographed their jerseys and posed for ‘selfies’ and group photographs. Donn Sabu, a Class-VII student of the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Neriamangalam, said he was going to preserve his signature-filled jersey as a collectible.

While a large number of children ‘TNIE’ spoke to had a hard time recollecting the faces of the players they obtained the signatures from, they were visibly delighted at the opportunity to have a one-to-one interaction with the players. M T Paul, a student of the Global Public School, Chottanikkara, could not contain his joy after Iain Hume hugged him.

While the children went about playing with the big names in Indian and international football, their parents stood on the sidelines evaluating the merits of the debut venture by the ISL.

“The standard of Indian football is very poor, and we need ventures like this to improve the game,” said Dr Vinod P Abraham of the Lakeshore Hospital. His son, Alwin Abraham, a student of the Global Public School, was part of the Blasters’ Grassroots programme.

The event was inaugurated by Collector M G Rajamanickam. Dominic Presentation MLA, KFApresident K M I Mather, KBFC secretary Rajeev Kamineni and Blasters coach Trevor Morgan also attended.