JEDDAH: Be it steamy summer, unseasonal rains or shocking “Jeddah flood”, a host of enterprising Indian expatriate schoolboys, backed by their enthusiastic parents, a soccer-mad welfare-cum-sports club and renowned football veterans, have been kicking soccer in desert in right earnest. Being starved of opportunities and facilities these boys have found the space in the vacant old airport area in the Sulaimaniyah district as their cradle of soccer and have been practicing without fail every Friday for about six months from 6.30 A.M. for two hours under the watchful eyes of former All-India University star and professional player Abdul Rafeeque and his assistants E.V. Ashraf and Zamir T.M. on the field and Jaffer Ahmed and Saleem off the field. The whole exercise began when Kannur Welfare Forum (KWF), a group from northern part of Kerala State in India which has been doing a lot of charitable works in its home district as helping talented but economically backward students, finding self employment and providing back-to-school programs, thought about finding ways for their children to play soccer and continue physical exercise for a healthy body and mind. No wonder that the members of the KWF who hail from Kannur, which has produced great footballers during the golden era of Indian soccer in 1960s and has been running a “Football Friends Free Coaching Center”, sprang into action through its sports wing Jeddah Sports Club (JSC) by starting a soccer camp the very next week, to be exact on December 10, 2010. But for a Friday when flood hit Jeddah badly the camp has been running without break. “We started with about 20-25 boys and now we have a regular attendance of 40-50 boys every Friday and have 93 registered boys who belong to the 7-12 age group,” said Rafeeque the main coach and the president of JSC. Rafeeque, who was a star player of Customs and Central Excise team, became emotional when he talked about the talented boys. “Talent is inborn, a special gift of God. I have spotted about 10 to 15 boys who are really gifted. They cannot be left alone. They have to be nurtured and that is the reason we have decided to continue this camp without fail,” underlined Rafeeque who has been serving the boys religiously and finding immense satisfaction and pleasure. To a question whether the camp would be open to other boys Jaffer Ahmed said: “It is open to all Indians without any barrier irrespective of region, religion, cast and creed.” The camp gained more momentum, impetus and spirit when Mohammed Habib, India's Arjuna Award winner, former India soccer team captain and observer for football in India's Sports Ministry, and Usman Koya, former award winning Calicut University coach, visited the camp when they were here in Jeddah on personal visit and offered their assistance for training the boys when they come next time. It is worth mentioning here that it was under coach Usman Koya that Rafeeque and the team won the All-India Inter University title for Calicut for the first time in 1971-72. Habib, after giving tips to the boys and trainers, said: “One has to constantly train and hone his skills to attain world standard and these kinds of training camps will do a world of good to the budding boys.” Detailing JSC's future plan its secretary Zamir said that they are gearing up to organize an inter-school tournament to offer these boys chance to exhibit their skills. Another JSC executive member E.V. Ashraf said that JSC is planning to organize seminars and theory classes for the boys with visuals of world class players and coaching manuals. Rafeeque, who is also holder of Certificate from United States Sports Academy, and the JSC team, are determined to continue the coaching camp without break but also wish and pray for a permanent and improved ground facility so that the talented boys continue their progress on the right track.
