Inspire Cup: Anantapur Sports Academy and La Liga Joint Venture Proves to Be A Resounding Success
The inaugural Inspire Cup which concluded at the Anantapur Sports Village in Ananthapuramu last week proved to be a resounding success among the masses.
The Under-16 girls' football tournament was organised by Rural Development Trust's Sport for Development sector Anantapur Sports Academy (ASA), in partnership with La Liga, through its Foundation (La Liga Fundacion) and its Women's Football department.
The Inspire Cup was the result of the efforts to create a quality pan-India platform for girls to compete, gain exposure, showcase their skills while breaking gender stereotypes and gaining in confidence.
Inspire Cup launched by Anantapur Sports Academy and La Liga hopes to break gender stereotypesInspire Cup launched by Anantapur Sports Academy and La Liga hopes to break gender stereotypes
The tournament acted as competitive exposure and an opportunity for girls from rural areas of Ananthapuramu and Sri Sathya Sai Districts (Andhra Pradesh) and other parts of India to be scouted for different girls' football academies.
RDT- ASA's vision is that the Inspire Cup will fill the gap of the lack of good competitive platforms for U-16 girls in football, and the tournament will encourage many girls to pursue football.
Throughout the tournament, various interactive sessions were organised between the teams to enable cultural exchange and share the challenges and opportunities for women in football in various places.
Breaking barriers
The tournament was meant to act as competitive exposure and an opportunity for girls from rural areas of Ananthapuramu and Sri Sathya Sai Districts (Andhra Pradesh) and other parts of India to be scouted for different girls' football academies.
Inspire Cup was conducted in a round-robin-league-and-knockout format and featured 80 players from five teams from different parts of the country.
Compassion FC Goa champs
The five teams which competed in the tournament include Gajwal FC Telangana, YSR Sports School team Kadapa, Life Sports FC Chennai, Compassion FC Goa, and ASA Girls Team Anantapur.
Compassion FC Goa and ASA Girls Team challenge against each other in finals held on July 9. with the former emerging champions with a 1-0 result.
Talking about the tournament, Compassion FC coach Prakash Khatri said, 'The Inspire Cup is an opportunity for our team to gain exposure and compete with girls from various parts of the country. We're excited to bag the cup amidst tough competition. '
The winning team captain Vinoska Fernandez said, 'I and girls are happy to be part of this cup, we're grateful for the opportunity and congratulate all the teams who participated for their performances and we look forward to the next edition.'
Opportunity For Girls
RDT Sport for Development Sector Director, Sai Krishna Pulluru shared his views, 'We feel honoured to host this tournament for U-16 girls, especially when there aren't many platforms available for U-16 girls to compete. We believe that there's a lot of potential in India, especially in football and this Inspire Cup gives girls the opportunity to showcase their skills.
'This tournament also facilitates cultural exchange between girls from different states, languages , and cultures. We believe that this will further our efforts in increasing the football culture in India and using it for the development of individuals and communities. We thank La Liga and Fundacion La Liga for joining our efforts in making this possible.'
