Former Indian footballers run grassroots academy from Mumbai’s Vakola

At first glance Sportzella Football Academy SFA run by former India football captain Raju Gaikwad 35 and his elder brother and former junior India footballer Neil Gaikwad 43 looks like any other football academy operating from a small artificial turf in a narrow lane in Vakola SantacruzBrothers Raju left and Neil Gaikwad who run Sportzella Football Academy in VakolaBut the academy shares a boundary with the Valmiki Samaj Panchayat VSP a densely packed settlement of hundreds of small homes some measuring barely 10x10 feet and around 1000 residents according to the brothers Many residents work as sanitation workers sweepers and manual scavengersThe spot near the entrance to the settlement where some men would gather to drink use drugs and gamble according to the Gaikwad brothers PicNimesh DaveThe brothers say the area around the settlementrsquos entrance was once a gathering spot for some men who drank used drugs and gambled with residents also reporting robberies and violence That began to change after the brothers noticed children from the settlement stopping to watch their football sessionsMore than footballAn aerial view showing the Sportzella Football Academy turf and the neighbouring Valmiki Samaj Panchayat left settlementFor the Gaikwad brothers the initiative is also about giving back Their father Eknath was a nationallevel boxer and Shiv Chhatrapati awardee ldquoOur father Eknath a nationallevel boxer and Shiv Chhatrapati awardee always wanted us to not just play sport but also give back to society through it This is our way of honouring his legacyrdquo says Raju who captained India to the 2012 Nehru Cup title following a successful stint as the countryrsquos U23 captainHow it startedTrainees of the Sportzella Football Academy across all agegroups get together after a training sessionldquoWhen we started SFA around three years ago some men from the VSP area would hang around at the junction near the entrance drinking consuming drugs gambling and creating a ruckus But their children who attended the Hindu Seva Parishad school next door would stop by on their way home and eagerly watch our training sessions Thatrsquos when Neil got an ideardquo Raju tells middayA free place on the teamNeil approached the men and offered to train their children for free but asked them to stop the activities around the entrance ldquoI told them their kids were keen to learn football and that I was willing to train them for free but only if they stopped these activities They went home and spoke to their wives Within a few days the families responded positivelyrdquoToday SFA has more than 100 students including 3040 children from the VSP community While regular students pay Rs 2000 a month the VSP children train for free and are provided with jerseys shorts shoes and stockingsGetting the children to fit inNeil says bringing the VSP children into the academy came with its own challenges ldquoSome of the VSP kids initially struggled with aggression discipline and abusive language given their tough family circumstances So I separated them from the regular students and worked on controlling their aggression and temper It took a few weeks of training and minor punishments such as additional drills for misconduct and eventually they realised that if they didnrsquot behave they would not get the fancy playing kit boots and stuffrdquo The children were eventually integrated with the academyrsquos other studentslsquoThey have changed our view of lifersquoSixteenyearold Suraj Singh is among the VSP children training at SFA His father Sujit is a watchman at a neighbouring society while his mother Archana works as a sweeper Archana says the academy has changed the way children in the settlement see their futureldquoSFA has changed our view of life Firstly Neil and Raju have worked hard to rid our neighbourhood of antisocial activities Then they have also given our children a free and fair platform to compete with kids from different sections of society and perhaps even outshine them in futurerdquo she sayspopcorn number100 descStudents at SFA classDefaultpopcorn number3040 descChildren from the VSP community classDefaultpopcorn numberRs 2000 descMonthly fee for regular students classDefaultpopcorn numberFree descTraining and kit for VSP children classDefault