Gujjarwal Football Academy churning out players from villages
The Gujjarwal Football Academy, near Jodhan, about 30 km from Ludhiana city, has set a precedent of sorts by instilling a sense of sportsmanship among village youth. The academy has churned out more than 50 players, both boys and girls, who have played at the state and national levels. Recently, some players from the academy attended an international training camp in Austria.
A well-maintained football ground spread over 3.5 acres on the outskirts of Gujjarwal village gives the impression of an international facility. It was built during the SAD regime. A brainchild of Dakha MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali, the motive behind setting up the football academy was to instil a sense of sportsmanship among the village youth and wean them away from drugs.
Charanjit Singh Grewal, an NRI from Hong Kong, is the chairman of the academy. Grewal, along with like-minded NRIs and villagers, has been giving funds to run the academy’s day-to-day affairs.
Sarabjit, a representative of the academy, told The Tribune that though the sports ground was constructed in 2017, the villagers, led by Grewal, took the charge in 2020 and vowed to use to hone skills of budding footballers.
In 2020, the academy had around 100 players and the number has grown to 200 now. The trainees are mostly from Gujjarwal village and belong to underprivileged and middle-class families. The academy bears all expenses of the players, including diet and sports kit.
According to Sarabjit, the academy has employed four former football players as full-time coaches. It has made three age groups of boys and girls — under-10, under-14 and under-17. “Our U14 team has remained winners three times in a row in the schools games and bagged the top spot twice in a row in the Khedan Watan Punjab Diyan,” said Sarabjit.
The academy trainees had even played on behalf of the Punjab Football Association in the tournaments organised by the All India Football Federation.
Thirty-one players from the academy have played at school games in 2024-25 and 21 have participated at national level in 2023-24, added Sarabjit.
“Recently, a Delhi-based company conducted football trials in which 50,000 budding players from across the country took part. Of the 28 players, including 16 boys and 12 girls, who were shortlisted, two girls from the Gujjarwal academy — Japleen Kaur and Gurleen Kaur got selected. Both were sent to Austria to attend an international football camp free of cost. Japleen also attended a camp in Germany. Japleen and Gurleen were honoured by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an event held in Delhi recently.
Sarabjit said Bhajanpreet Kaur of the academy had played national matches as part of the state football team. “Our player Japjot Singh was selected by Sudeva Club, Delhi, after tough trials where players from across the country tried their luck,” he added.
“I am confident that our academy players will make it to Indian Football Team in future,” added Sarabjit.
Dakha MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali said during the Akali regime he got built 70 such sports parks offering facilities to villagers and of these Gujjarwal was the first sports ground. “I feel elated when I come to know that these grounds, especially Gujjarwal, are churning national-level players. Such sports facilities instil a sense of sportsmanship among the youth and also keep them away from drugs,” added Ayali.
Punjab