MUMBAI: The Hero U-17 Women’s Championship 2019, organized by Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) and Reliance Foundation, gets underway Monday in Kalyani, West Bengal.
The tournament was announced earlier this year by FSDL chairperson Mrs Nita Mukesh Ambani while addressing the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) club owners’ meet, which was also attended by All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Praful Patel.
Aimed at helping India select its players for the 2020 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, to be held in the country, the 7-day tournament has 4 teams competing against each other. The four-teams – Panthers, Tigresses, Lionesses and Cheetahs – will face each other once in a round robin format. A total of 73 players are pitted against each other as part of the 4 teams, with each team having a 5-member support staff consisting of a head coach, assistant coach, goalkeeping coach, physio and team manager.
Coached by India’s national U-19 women’s team coach, Alex Ambrose, the Lionesses will certainly pose a threat to the other teams, with the competition representing a great learning experience for the players. However, on the basis of sheer prowess on paper, Cheetahs are expected to be boosted by Indian football legend and Arjuna Awardee, Oinam Bembem Devi, who will be acting as the head coach of the team. There will be no lack of experience and expertise for the Tigresses and Panthers, who will be coached by former U-14 women’s team coach Priya PV and former India national team member Subhash Chakraborty respectively. Organised under the aegis of the AIFF, the tournament final will be played between the top 2 sides on Sunday, November 17, in Kalyani.
FSDL, along with Star Sports, India’s leading sports broadcaster, have also launched the campaign #GroundsKnowNoGender for the tournament. The campaign for the U-17 Women’s Championship looks to build interest in women’s football in the country as a build up to the 2020 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup to be held in India. The new TVC on U17 women’s football championship #GroundsKnowNoGender conceptualised by the in-house Star Sports creative team celebrates talent of young Indian girls who have an interest and passion for football.
The tournament is being be telecast in 6 languages (English, Hindi, Bangla, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada) across the Star Sports Network, Hotstar and Jio TV.
