Minor League Soccer in Delhi

My son like many others in the public schools of Delhi plays Soccer more enthusiastically than cricket. He goes twice a week for soccer training with a group of friends. Coached by a Nigerian professional soccer player I have seen them gradually transform from gawky youngsters to more assured ball players. More importantly I have seen how the physical stamina and effort have been enhanced by exercise and hard work.
It seems there is a group of Nigerians who are coaching kids all over Delhi and last week they decided to organize a small tournament amongst their teams to see who has the best team. So each team had to fork out some money and the tournament was on.

Sunday was the big day when our kids went into a soccer field in one uniform and playing as one team. Some of the parents decided to forgo the sunday afternoon siesta and go and cheer their boys and we were also part of them. After an adventurous search for the ground we reached in time to see the first match which our kids won 4-

I had seen movies where American parents went to watch their kids play base ball and cheer and support their team but it was the first time that I saw parents like me coming and cheering their kids.
There was juice, cakes, sandwiches for everyone and wife was smart enough to carry 3 pints of beer and a good time was had by all. In spite of my caution to myself to not get too involved by the time of the second match i was screaming at my son to fall back or attack the ball and then I realised that irrespective of which corner of the world you are in parent hood and the feelings remain the same.

Well we are in the finals to be played next week and watch this space for more.