Gamesa to send fourteen 12 year old boys to play football at Donosti Cup, Spain
Chennai, 28 June 2016: In what will be a maiden initiative, Gamesa Dream Footers, a football team comprising of Gamesa Soccer League players, will represent Gamesa and Slum Soccer under the B12 category at the Donosti Cup, an international youth soccer tournament in San Sebastian, Spain. The tournament will take place from 3rd to 9th July this year. More than 500 teams will participate in Donosti, making it one of the biggest tournaments in Southern Europe.
The team comprises of best performing players from Gamesa Soccer League tournament, a joint initiative by Gamesa, the leading renewable energy company in the country and Slum Soccer, an NGO that trains children from humble backgrounds in the game of football.
The squad comprises of boys from various parts of the country, from Chennai, Kolkata, Tuticorin, Nagpur and Gudalur. For many of them, this has been a fantastic learning experience, both on and off the field. Their training regimen has seen them move beyond the basic understanding of the game to honing their tactical awareness and bringing the best out of each other as a team. Coached by Stepan Ermakov, a visiting coach from Russia and coaches from Slum Soccer, the side will be captained by the astute midfielder Ashridh Ayyapan, whose first foray out of a small tribal hamlet at Nilgiris came when he participated in the first edition of the Gamesa Soccer League, held in Chennai in May 2015
Mr. Ramesh Kymal, Chairman and Managing Director, Gamesa India, said, “We are committed to utilising sports as a tool of social development and nurturing talented children from humble backgrounds and helped transform them into confident adolescents. In the span of their training, they gain so much confidence and they become real leaders. With the background they come from and where life takes them after they start playing football, it truly is a life changing experience. All our well wishes are with the Team representing us in Spain”
Through this initiative, Gamesa is committed to empowering rural children across India by boosting their confidence and minimise their vulnerability towards life’s uncertainties and promote a healthy and positive outlook towards life, through the game of competitive football. The players are currently undergoing rigorous training arrangements for two months and have easy access to full course dieting and nutrition, fully equipped football kits, accommodation during training and in Spain.
