Mrs. Nita Ambani and Salman Khan catch the action at the Young Champs launch function.Mrs. Nita Ambani, founder and chairperson of Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), today launched the ISL #grassroots football movement by flagging off the Young Champs initiative at the Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai. This long-term initiative will be a joint effort of FSDL, the eight Hero Indian Super League clubs, Reliance Foundation and three NGOs -- Magic Bus in Mumbai, Delhi, Raigad and Bengaluru, Slum Soccer in Nagpur, Thane and Navi Mumbai, and Yuwa in Jharkhand.Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, who was there to lend his support to the cause, sent the packed school ground into a frenzy. The highlight of the event were two seven-a-side games played by four teams of children from the NGOs, one in red and the other in blue. The boys teams squared off against each other first while the girls played out the second game. Each game was 20 minutes long, with ten minute halves. Khan’s team was decked in red and Mrs. Ambani’s in blue.Speaking before the kick-off, Mrs. Ambani expressed her thoughts on the event and set the tone for the matches, “It is so wonderful to see all these children gathered here. They bring a lot of positive energy with them. Sports is so important for the development of our children. It develops their character and helps them deal with life. Today is not about competing, winning or losing. Today, we want football to triumph. I want to wish all the players the very best.”Mrs. Nita Ambani and Salman Khan greeting the players before the kick-off of the competition.Khan also had the audience smiling as he egged his teams on, “We will try our best to win. We will not give the blue team an inch. We want to win the trophy. Maybe later, we can hand it over to Nita Maam’s team,” he said.All teams gave a good account of themselves but in the end, Khan prevailed with both his boys and girls teams winning the encounters via penalty shoot-outs. Speaking after handing out trophies and medals to the children, Mrs. Ambani explained the importance of the programme and her future vision: “Sports and education go hand in hand for the holistic development of all our children. Sports helps our youth channelise their energies in a positive way. We are now reaching the business end of the Hero ISL and we are now launching the soul of the league in right earnest. In the first phase of our grassroots programmes, we plan to reach out to over half a million kids and distribute over one lakh footballs across the country. We will also be initiating a ‘Coach the Coaches’ programme that will reach out to rural children. The Reliance Foundation will recognise the top talents and sponsor their education and their football for as many years as they require.”Mrs. Ambani also expressed her thanks to the Bollywood superstar, who after raising Rs 5 lakhs via a celebrity penalty challenge, generously volunteered a donation of an additional Rs 5 lakhs on behalf of his NGO, Being Human, “I would like to thank Salman for being here from the bottom of my heart. His presence is a huge motivation for all these kids to take up the beautiful game of football,” she said.Khan responded by sharing his delight at being able to attend the event. “I feel amazing being here. Nita-ji is doing a wonderful job by encouraging both education and sports which shall lead to better health amongst the kids. A lot of people today have money, but very few people use that money for the betterment of our society, especially kids. I must commend her for the wonderful job that she has been doing. For doing something like this you need a big heart and she certainly has one,” Khan said.Asked to deliver his message for the youth, Khan volunteered, “I would like to encourage the youth to take up football. Unlike cricket, where the owner of the bat or ball sometimes runs off when his or her turn has ended, football keeps everyone involved and only needs a ball and some space.”
