Dhenkanal, July 24: Odisha FC has started OFC Grassroots Tour from two villages – Gundichapada and Naranpur in Dhenkanal district. The program is being conducted in association with Youth for Sustainability (YfS) and aims at Grassroots Football Development in different parts of Odisha.

On the first day (23rd July), the grassroots team of the Club visited Gundichapada and provided Maa Sarala Club with footballing equipments. OFC Grassroots Coach Mir Aatif Ali demonstrated how to make the best use of the equipments with a few drills. Five a side friendly matches were also played in the morning and in the afternoon, an exhibition match was played between Maa Sarala Club and Morning Club, Dhenkanal.

Similarly on the second day (24th July), OFC’s grassroots team visited Naranpur village and met the Popular Club players and staff. Another exhibition football match was played between Popular Club and Morning Club in the second evening after the drills and grassroots development activities in the morning. YfS also conducted a plantation drive by planting some plant saplings at both the villages as a part of their campaign.

Speaking about the initiative, Grassroots Manager Suvam Das expressed, “It was really amazing to see the turnout and interest among the youth and small kids here in Dhenkanal. A few of them have impressed us and we are looking to call them for our camps in the future. We are planning to cover as many as football hotspots in the State we can and in coming days, we will be visiting more districts as a part of this tour.”