THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The hundred-metre-long University Stadium ground might not be up to the international mark. The crowd may not be as inspiring as that in Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata or Fatorda Stadium in Goa. But the collective festive spirit exhibited by the spectators was so overwhelming as to illuminate the faces of the I-league organisers. According to Geevarghese, secretary of the Thiruvananthapuram District Football Association, the tournament is being viewed as an elixir for soccer in the state. Though the expected crowd figure of 10,000 seems to be a distant goal, the officials believe that the fanfare have already created ripples of enthusiasm among the youth. "This gala event, if missed, will indeed be a big miss. If the essence of sporting spirit once gets into a child, then he will carry it with him for the rest of his life. So, we are trying to remould I-league into Our-league," he said. Santosh Kashyap, former International and current coach of Air India, had words of appreciation for the spectators. While addressing the media after the match on Sunday, he said that festive spirit of spectators was a quintessential part of the game. On Thursday evening, for the match between Chirag United and Dempo, the crowd's arrival had picked up momentum even minutes before the match had started. The western side of the gallery had several hundreds of youths who responded with loud cheers.The live commentators among the public entertained the crowd more than anything. They growled and whistled at the players, who failed to stand up to the mark. The Australian player of Chirag United was nick-named 'Kangaroo' and was verbally battered by the crowd. For Anto Xavier and his pack of friends from Nalanchira, watching I-league was their dream. During the halftime when the teams had gone for the 15-minute break, they got up from their seats and went to the side of the balcony and peeked through the window panes to the room where Chirag players were having a team discussion. Ignoring a few questions posed by some mediapersons, they were engrossed in hearing what the players were listening to. Anto, a striker with Masters' club, Nalanchira, muttered that he had a dream, some thing resembling the great speech of Martin Luther King Jr. For a couple of youths who had come form Valiyathura, football is close to their hearts. But they have no love lost for Indian football. For, they have never loved the local players and their game. "Look at the English Premier League. And then look how our people are playing. It's paradoxical," a teen introducing himself as Anthony said. But when met him after the match he had taken a different stand. His friends said that the Dempo game resembles that of Portugal's game and they were watching a national-level tournament for the first time. Why should boys have all the fun, was the question the girls had in their minds. Girls, in their twenties, had turned up in large numbers to watch the match. A few were enthusiastic football fans, while some others had light moments with their boy friends. They were lost in their own world, away from all the clamour. I-league has certainly become 'Our-league' for the youths in the city.
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