Recognition comes through sustained hard work. That is what the Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society (SMSES) believes in. And, when the Sports Ministry decided to confer the honour on SMSES as the worthy recipient of the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar, we got the real shot in the arm.
The award given by the sports ministry is for development of sports and feels not only honoured but elated as it will goad us further in our endeavour to create an atmosphere of sporting culture through our efforts.
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The SMSES, has been functioning with a sole motive of promoting football at the grassroots and, as a result, we have been hosting the Subroto Cup Football Tournament for more than five decades without a break.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, recognizing our efforts over a period of time, recently announced that the ‘Sports for Development’ award will be conferred on SMSES along with the other yearly Arjuna, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, and the Dronacharya awards to deserving sports personalities. The award was received by Air Marshal MK Malik AVSM VSM, Air Officer-in-charge Administration & Vice-Chairman SMSES from Honourable President of India, Sh Pranab Mukherjee today at a special ceremony organized at Rashtrapati Bhawan at 1230 hrs.
Ever since its inception way back in 1960 the Subroto Cup—named after the late Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee—has time and again ventured into unchartered territories to ensure that every child plays football, irrespective of caste, creed or gender.
Sustained growth of the Subroto Cup
A mere look at the number of participating schools from the inaugural edition to this date would indicate the monumental height the SMSES has touched with a unique figure of 34,000 teams having participated in the event—a phenomenal growth considering the participation just 50 schools in the inaugural edition in 1960. This was made possible, largely due to the HRD Ministry’s order of making it compulsory for every school in the country to participate in order to touch as many young lives as possible through the beautiful game.
The Subroto Cup, conducted by the Indian Air Force, has impacted majorly the lives of many a footballers, individually, as well the Indian football on the whole. Legendary footballers like Bhaichung Bhutia, Shyam Thapa, Bijen Singh, and Parimal Dey, to name a few, are all from the Subroto Cup stable and have gone on to make a name for themselves apart from making the country proud.
Most of the present crop—Robin Singh, Jakichand Singh and Nirmal Chhetri—that represents the country have been a part and parcel of our tournament. In other words, the Subroto Cup tournament is second to none in more ways than one as the SMSES’s goal towards setting target year after year and edition after edition speaks volumes of our contribution in the growth of Indian football.
Having acquired a Pan-India presence, thanks to the ever-growing support from schools of the country, the Subroto Cup has become the first all-India tournament to be held in the remote states like the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. To top it all, the SMSES also introduced the element of international participation to raise the standards of competition. As a result, the Subroto Cup boats of participation of teams from Brazil, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Sweden, Israel, Afghanistan, UAE, Oman, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Malaysia, Indonesia and several others who have been involved in this 56-year-old Cup competition.
Having carved out a niche in Indian football and ever looking out for new avenues, the organizers stuck true to their sole motto of making every child feel involved by introducing the U-17 category for Girls in 2011. Since then, the competition for girls in the U-17 category has also been added and the tournament has seen girls’ teams from neighbouring countries participate as well. This has given a fillip to the girl-power and adds a new dimension to the concept.
The arrival of Pele
One of the campaigns that the organizers are most proud of and which can take the sport to every nook and corner of the country has, undoubtedly, been the Khelo Football Initiative. SMSES insists on the Subroto Cup’s existence to ensuring all children play football, without any bias or prejudice, as the Khelo Football philosophy embodies giving every child a chance to showcase his or her talent.
The icing on the cake, of course, was the 56th edition of the tournament as the organizers roped in, arguably the greatest footballer of all time – Pele – to come to India last year (2015) and be a part of this unique extravaganza. The legendary Brazilian footballer, who made it to the subcontinent after a gap of 38 years, spoke highly of the tournament, highlighting the work the SMSES has been doing in the development of the sport in India.
With so many jewels in its crown—increased participation, prize money and scholarships notwithstanding—the Subroto Cup and the SMSES is continuing its saga of providing kids with a perfect platform to make it big in the world of football.
And, we, in the SMSES and the Subroto Cup Committee hope that the Sports Ministry award will only drive us further to set new goals for ourselves and the children that play this great game and eventually take all of us to the pinnacle of the sport. If the sport reaches the pinnacle, naturally the country will.
