Admit it: You wish you could bend it like Beckham. Even if you were raised on the cricket pitch from the time you could hold a bat, there’s something about the allure of football that gets under everyone’s skin right around the World Cup season. But, for a dedicated subset of the Capital city, that itch to play lasts more than just a few golden months—it’s a year-round need.
Luckily, for those diehard fans, there’s a multiplicity of venues to display their football skills—and they don’t have to be David Beckhams or Thierry Henrys to play. Intramural teams have sprung up through the sponsorship of corporations or embassies, or just through the dedication of some friends getting together for the love of the game. And a slew of new tournaments now offer those teams far more opportunities to get out on the field to play.
Intramural leagues have been around in Delhi for years but, for a long time, they resided behind the gates of Chanakyapuri, where homesick diplomats would take on other embassy teams on the greens behind the gates. But Sanjeev Frank, 45, the founder of Weekend Soccer, says the diplomat leagues didn’t mix well with local teams, so a few men decided to try a tournament league of their own.
Aashish Khanna, a sales representative for Adidas, started Delhi Diplomatic Soccer International League (DDSIL) with his friend Lance Hamilton. Soon enough, the diplomatic teams were signing up to play in his tournaments.
What started with one or two Indian teams, grew into 30 Indian teams, with groups from the media, such as the India Today Group and corporate teams from GE. Adidas started sponsoring the tournaments, and the biannual tournaments have become the Sunday activity for the players.
You forget everything; you put your phone on silent and you play
Khwaja Sayeed
Priyadarshini College of Computer Science
Khwaja Sayeed runs the Priyadarshini College of Computer Science, but comes out every Sunday to play with his friends when the tournament is on. He captains the team Red Devils and says it’s a stress buster. “You forget everything; you put your phone on silent and you play.”
Sayeed’s team, which is made up of his buddies, started with three friends who had been playing football together since college. Other teams, though, are formed through companies or embassies. The Italian team, for example, is called the Azzuri. Ace Honda sponsors a team, as does PriceWaterhouse Coopers.
Other teams are a mix of nationalities. The Farm House Kickers started with predominantly German players, but, as its captain Heinz Roth points out, it now also has team members from Russia, France, Sweden, India, Australia and Spain.
Roth, the chief of security at the German embassy, recently celebrated his team’s win in the quarter finals by popping German beers immediately after leaving the field. “We play some football, and then (do) some drinking. It’s necessary,” Roth says.