ASA-RDT, LaLiga and FUNDACIÓN LaLiga’s Inspire Cup completes its first edition.

 

The first edition of Inspire Cup successfully completed on 9th July 2022. The Inspire Cup is a U16 girls’ football tournament, organized by Rural Development Trust's Sport for Development sector Anantapur Sports Academy (ASA), in partnership with LaLiga, through its Foundation and its Women's Football department. Inspire Cup which was held at Anantapur Sports Village in Ananthapuramu from 5th to 9th July 2022.

 

The tournament was conducted in Round Robin League and Knockout formats and witnessed 80 players from five teams competing against each other. Gajwal FC - Telangana, YSR Sports School team - Kadapa, Life Sports FC - Chennai, Compassion FC - Goa, and ASA Girls Team - Anantapur participated in the tournament

 

Compassion FC - Goa and ASA Girls Team competed against each other in finals held on 9th July. With a score of 1-0 Compassion FC emerged as champions by defeating ASA Girls Team.

 

Talking about the tournament, Prakash Khatri, the coach of Compassion FC said, “The Inspire Cup is an opportunity for our team to gain exposure and compete with girls from various parts of the country. We are 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 are grateful for the opportunity and I congratulate all the teams who participated for their performances and we look forward to the next edition.”

 

RDT- ASA believes that the Inspire Cup will fill the gap of the lack of good competitive platforms for U16 girls in football, and the tournament will encourage many girls to pursue football. Throughout the tournament, various interactive sessions were organized between the teams to enable cultural exchange and share the challenges and opportunities for women in football in various places.

 

"We feel honoured to host this tournament for U-16 girls, especially when there are not many platforms available for U-16 girls to compete. We believe that there is 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 LaLiga and FUNDACIÓN LaLiga for joining our efforts in making this possible,” said, RDT Sport for Development Sector Director, Sai Krishna Pulluru

 

About the RDT - LaLiga partnership:

 

The partnership between RDT and LaLiga, through its Foundation and its Women's Football department, started in 2018-19 to provide equitable opportunities for boys and girls from rural communities in Anantapur District to access their fundamental 'Right: To Play' and create equal learning opportunities for both the boys and girls to develop holistically through football.

 

In 2021-22, the RDT - LaLiga partnership created access to 2,556 children to play football through residential and grassroots programs. The growing football culture in the district due to the collaboration resulted in the setting up the first girls' residential football academy in the district. This increased the interest among girls to pursue football, as well as encouragement from the parents to send the girls for football practice at the Grassroots community clubs in rural communities.

 

The programs like Residential girls' academy, Non-residential girls' teams, Youth (Girls) internship programs, assistance with certification along with access to play football regularly regardless of gender are contributing to gender equality among the rural communities of Anantapur while contributing to the holistic development and football skill development of the children in community football clubs.