Minister for Forests, Environment and Ecology, Choudhary Lal Singh today inaugurated a 5-day long U-19 ‘Udaan Football Tournament-2017’ here at Model Higher Secondary School Basholi.he tournament is being organized by Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Jammu, under its ‘Samajik Chetna Abhiyaan’ programme.In the tournament, six teams of various institutions including Saint Annes Convent School, Vir Sawerkar HSS, Model HSS, Basholi Football club, HSS Plassi and Jawahar Navodhaya Vidhyala of Basholi are taking part. The final match will be played on November 15, 2017.
The winning team will get a cash award of Rs 50000, while first runner-up and second runner-up teams would get a cash prize of Rs 30000 and Rs 20000 respectively. The winner of final match at tehsil level will get a chance to play a friendly match at Mumbai. The winning team members would also be invited as guests at Raising Day celebration of SSB on December 20 at New Delhi.While addressing the gathering, Lal Singh lauded the efforts of SSB Jammu for elaborate arrangements made for the tournament. He said that games play an important role in physical and mental fitness of youth besides channelizing their energies towards a right direction.The Minister said that football, being a popular game in India particularly in rural areas, is receiving focused attention of the government. “It is an earnest effort of the present dispensation that state’s sportspersons are provided with every support to enable them work out their talent to the fullest,” he asserted.