Jammu and Kashmir youth Aman Zargar who is an engineer by profession, has revived the football club ‘Kashmir Avengers’ after a gap of 12 years, aiming to provide the youngsters with a space to showcase their talent.
According to a report, Aman, 30, highlighted the objective of life with fitness as a prime ingredient to bringing smiles to the face of people. “Without a goal, life is like a game of football without a goalpost. I find no objective in life if there is no fitness, engagement, and smile on people’s faces. I feel satisfied when people smile, laugh, and shout their support for football, I feel that I have found my objective in their smiles and their laughs,” the report quoted Aman, who is also among the co-founders of the football club, as saying.
Claiming that ‘Kashmir Avengers’ is one of the top J-K football clubs, he said that it has more than 90 per cent of locals play in the club adding that it comes under the category of Premier Division.
“It is satisfying to watch our own youngsters playing in the game even when we don’t know who will win. The support of people towards Kashmir Avengers is so high that the cheering somehow finds its way to the ears of our players in the stadium, influencing their morale, sportsmanship and suddenly one can see the trajectory as the ball hurtles toward the goalposts!” he was quoted as saying.
Commenting on the football future in Jammu and Kashmir, Zargar claimed that Kashmir Avengers has become the lead provider for J-K-based elite talent identification and specialization in football future are expanding and accelerating their work on bringing the Kashmir-based players with international football standards.
“We will continue to offer all players of any age and ability a personalized football education from the best coaches in the J-K and provide pathways for the players to excel,” Aman said.
Zargar Zaheen, who is another co-founder of the club and an MBA graduate, returned from Dubai leaving his job only to pursue his dream of reviving the club and training youngsters for international-level football, according to the report.
“While I was in Dubai, I was earning a lucrative amount, but a sense of seeing Kashmiri youngsters in the game of football didn’t let me sleep. I came back and decided to give young aspiring local football players a chance to prove their mettle by reviving Kashmir Avengers Football Club,” the report quoted Zargar as saying.
Commenting on the enthusiasm and the passion of the game said that he asks players to train their minds and never give up.
“We at Kashmir Avengers believe in being the truest to the game and have trust in the players and the bench. Football is a game of combination and teamwork. I usually ask the players to train their minds and never give up. This team managed to outclass the set of international and national players in various games. I am optimistic about the club’s success by coming out of the dark,” he said.
According to the reports, J-K witnessed huge participation of sports in the year 2015, when almost 60,000 players participated in various sports disciplines including domestic tournaments.
In 2016, 1,20,000 youngsters participated in the sports council for various disciplines. In 2017, 89,612 players from 22 districts of J-K had participated in various sports, where over 25,000 were girls. The total number of aspiring and budding sportspersons who received sports coaching in various disciplines during the financial year 2016-2017 increased to 50,000.
As per an analysis, more than 10,000 persons were present in district Anantnag’s sports stadium watching and cheering for their players and it looked that a new discourse had been set up when Kashmir Avengers lifted the trophy in the middle of Anantnag’s heart. (ANI)
