Minister for Forests, Environment and Ecology Ch. Lal Singh today inaugurated U-19 “Udaan” Football Tournament-2017 here at DPS Rajbagh.The tournament is being organized by Sashastra Seema Bal(SSB) Jammu, under its program ‘Samajik Chetna Abhiyaan’ .In the First phase, starting from today, tehsil level matches would be played at Marheen and Hiranagar. The first phase will conclude on November 20, while the second phase will begin on November 21 which would witness district level contests.The winning team will get a cash award of Rs 50,000, while the runners up and second runners up teams would get cash prize of Rs 30,000 and Rs 20,000, respectively.The winner of final match at district level will get a chance to play a friendly match at Mumbai. The winning team members will also be honoured by inviting them to participate as guests at the Raising Day celebration of SSB on December 20 at New Delhi.Addressing the opening ceremony, Lal Singh lauded the SSB, Jammu for the massive arrangements made for organizing the tournament. He said that games play an important role in the development of physical fitness of the youth. He exhorted upon the youth to vigorously participate in co-curricular activities.The Minister said that football is a popular game in India, particularly in rural areas. “There are grounds in every village and players are very enthusiastic to play the game of football. We must pay attention to promote it so that our players can move forward to find a place at the national level” he asserted.The inaugural ceremony was attended by Commandant 66 BN SSB, Ajay Sharma, DYSSO Kathua, DFOs, and officials of SSB, Principal, Staff members, students and sportsmen in large numbers.