To celebrate the Independence Day, Oscar Foundation organised a football tournament for the underprivileged children in South Mumbai. As many as 24 teams participated in the , where amid much fun and gaiety the most prestigious award was not for the team winning the tournament but awarded to a team for the best “fair play”.

Ashok Rathod,23, uses occasions like this and a combination of football and other activities to engage young children aged 7 to 18 in his slum area in Dr Babasaheb Ambednakar Nagar in Cuffe Parade here to divert their energies in constructive ways. Oscar has two golden rules for the children who would like to join – no spitting and no bad language.

He started the Oscar Football Club in 2006 as he saw his classmates who were sent to work when they were 14, start earning and fall into bad habits such as drinking and gambling and finally drop out of school. “I resolved to do something about this situation as I wanted to prevent the next generation from going through the same fate. I was working with a non-government organisation called Magicbus that works for the betterment of the underprivileged through sports. It was then that I realised how much sports can change your life and decided why don't I start it for my own community.”

Ashok started teaching football to 18 children and after a month he laid down the condition that if they wanted to continue playing then they must go to school. He brought in different NGOs and started tuition classes for the children. In Oscar, the youngsters can share their problems, learn important lessons in life, and educate themselves, through their common passion – football. Instead of being on the street, they're on the field and in classrooms.

Currently, Oscar conducts football training classes twice a week and tuition classes once a week. It has also started computer classes for the children. It currently fields a football team that plays in Division III of the Mumbai District Football Association.

Oscar's coach Chetman Rawal adds that the primary problem now is funding. “Funds are limited and very often we are unable to take the children to various tournaments as the entry fee is unaffordable."

Ashok admits it has not been an easy ride. He faced a lot of resistance from his family and the children's parents were reluctant too. He managed to convince them and Oscar now has 150 children out of which only 4 have failed in class this year which they say is a record for the community.

“Oscar has changed our lives. Earlier, I had no aim and direction in life and always thought I would be unable to do anything but Oscar made us believe that if we strive to work towards a goal through hard work and perseverance we will be able to conquer it,” said 18-year old Shankar who has been with Oscar since its inception.

Ashok is now a recognised figure not just in his bylanes but internationally too. He has worked on developing a training module on development through football and he has taken the programme to different states including Bihar, Goa and Karnataka. He has also been invited to speak at various conferences in Hong Kong, London and Japan this year about his experiences in Oscar.

Ashok now plans to take the programme to different schools across Mumbai and reach out to 1000 children. “My aim is not to just make them great football players but if I manage to help shape their lives, it would be more than enough. Football for us is a metaphor for life itself,” adds Ashok.

Related Topics