‘One million goals’ gets an enthusiastic response in Kochi

KOCHI: Umaira, hailing from Tiruchy, had never graced a football field even once in her lifetime. Clad in a burqa, with a three-year-old child asleep on her shoulder, she was walking past the Kochi Corporation office with three of her family members when one of the volunteers of ‘One Million Goals’ spotted them. The occasion was a well thought out promotional activity launched by the Kerala State Sports Council and the Directorate of Sports ahead of the FIFA U-17 World Cup matches to be held here next month.
The family, which runs a small-scale business in Kochi - was hesitant at first when they were invited to take a shot at goal. The idea behind the unique promo activity was to score a million goals across the state in a span of four hours. From 3 pm to 7 pm.  

When the women folks shied away from the task, the man of the house - Musthafa - goaded Umaira to kick the leather. With the kid still lying on her shoulder, Umaira removed her slippers and hit the ball with her instep. Amid the slow claps, the ball rolled its way to the makeshift target. Goal! The unassuming lady from the pastoral side has contributed one to 1,14000 goals scored across 340 centres in the district.

Mayor Soumini Jain scored the goal at the Corporation Office, while K V Thomas MP took part in the programme at Durbar Hall which was inaugurated by Olympian Mercy Kuttan. John Fernandez MLA,  Kochi Range IG P Vijayan, several former Santosh Trophy players, including C C Jacob and P P Prasannan, former badminton player George Thomas, badminton players Aparna Balan and P C Thulasi, volleyball player Kishore Kumar, former volleyball player Moideen Naina and Kerala Football Association president K M I Mather took part in the programme at Durbar Hall.The programmes at all centres saw heavy footfall as children and women turned up in healthy numbers with Bollywood and English pop blaring in the background. Long queues were visible at the registration counters.