Minister for Forest, Ecology and Environment, Choudhary Lal Singh today inaugurated second phase of U-19 Udaan Football Tournament-2017 here at the sports stadium of Delhi Public School.The tournament is being organized by Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Jammu, under its ‘SamajikChetnaAbhiyaan’ programme.Earlier, in the first phase of the tournament matches were held at Tehsil levels wherein five teams emerged as winners.The final phase would witness matches among five winner teams, DPS Rajbagh, Football Club Hiranagar, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Basholi, PallanParanala Club, Billawar and Army School, Janglote.Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Choudhary Lal Singh lauded efforts of SSB Jammu for making massive arrangements for the mega sports event. Highlighting benefits of sports, he exhorted upon the youth to vigorously participate in co-curricular activities.The Minister said that football is a popular game in India adding that it is also played in rural areas. “There are grounds in every village and players are very enthusiastic to play football. We must pay attention to promote it further, so that potential players can find a place at the national level,” he asserted.
Choudhary Lal Singh urged upon the youth to focus on their goals and put in dedicated efforts to compete and excel at national and international levels. He asked them to channelize their energies in positive direction and create a niche for themselves in the sports of their interest. He said that more and more football and hockey tournaments should be organized to promote the spirit of nationalism and the sport activities in the state.Commandant SSB Ajay Kumar informed the Minister that the winning team will be presented a cash award of Rs 50000, while second and third runner ups would get cash prize of Rs 30000 and Rs 20000, respectively.He said that the winner team will also get a chance to play a friendly match at Mumbai and the team members would be invited as guests at Raising Day celebration of SSB on December 20 at New Delhi.