SPORTSMANSHIP SPIRIT IN KASHMIR
In the most amazing sight, around 2,000 Kashmiris from Bandipora district, gathered at the floodlit Sher-e-Kashmir stadium, 66km from Srinagar, for a football match. Generally night life in Kashmir is being witnessed during festivals but now it’s being seen on sports field as well. The match between Mohammadan Sports Sopore and Real Kashmir Football Club ended in a draw, but for 90 minutes people forgot everything else amid great excitement and zeal and concentrated on the sportsmanship spirit. The stadium was packed to the full capacity, catching many by surprise. A group of football lovers, who had gathered at the stadium around 6 pm an hour before the match, said this was the first time that they had seen a football match on such a grand scale. They said they had previously seen floodlit stadiums only on TV screens. The spectators even live-streamed the match, encouraging other Kashmiri youths to join them at the stadium. “As I saw pictures of the match being played under floodlights on WhatsApp. I, along with my two other friends, left our houses and headed towards the ground,” said Firdous Ahmad of Bandipora.
Three students, Ubair Sofi, Mir Wajid and Azhar Ali, all in their 20s, who organized the Sofi Ghulam Mohmmad Memorial Football Tournament and held it at night, said they were motivated to organize the tournament as they wanted some leisure activity in their hometown. The youths, who study outside the valley, said they will hold more such matches in the future. Pointing out at the struggle they faced, one of them brought out that “We never expected such response from the people. It was peaceful and wonderful to have a night game in our district,” Sofi said, adding that it took a lot of effort and time to convince authorities to hold the tournament at night. Valley shuts down early in the evening due to cold weather and people prefer to reach home earlier to avoid health issues. But it was after long that people thronged the stadium. Football fever was at its peak in Bandipora after a long gap. Bandipora has beamed new life in football and resolved to sustain these sporting activities and confident that it will be having a ripple effect on other areas as well. Such tournaments will hunt for hidden talents in valley as the youth gets opportunities. And it would be inculcating the sportsman spirit among the rising players and nonetheless it will promote the others sports as well and the youth will devote their energy towards building a brighter future for themselves.
