Push for teen's soccer dream - Sikkim boy to train at camp for Under-17 World Cup

Surag Chettri at a practice session at Paljor Stadium in Gangtok. Picture by Prabin Khaling

Nirmal Mangar, TT, A 14-year-old boy from Sikkim has been selected to be trained for the next two years at an academy run by the All India Football Federation in Goa to form the Indian squad for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup.

Surag Chettri, a Class IX student of Modern Government Secondary School in Gangtok, is the only boy from the Himalayan state to make it to the Goan academy.

"I am happy to be selected for the camp. My favourite player is Brazilian footballer Neymar Da Silva. I want to make my state Sikkim and country proud by giving my best performance. I never thought that this kind of big opportunity would come to me so early," said the boy who hails from Jorethang in South Sikkim.

India is hosting the Under-17 World Cup in 2017 which will see the participation of over 100 nations.

Surag is presently undergoing training at the government-run State Sports Academy. The academy is operational in the vicinity of Paljor Stadium in Gangtok. Surag who joined the academy last year plays mid-field.

The football federation had organised a selection camp in the second week of June at Paljor Stadium to scout for teenaged soccer talents for the academy. Over 100 players from across the state had participated in the camp.

"The name of Surag was mentioned in the first list published by the football federation on July 4. The list has the names of 20 players, out of whom Surag is the only boy from Sikkim. This is the biggest achievement for the Sikkim football fraternity. However, there are other six footballers who have been selected during the camp and we hope their names, too, will appear on other two lists which would be released by the AIFF soon," said the general secretary of the Sikkim Football Association, Menla Ethenpa.

He said Surag would be trained at the AIFF World Cup academy in Madgaon, Goa, for two years. "The education of all the trainees in the academy would be looked after by the AIFF. Surag is a very good footballer," said Ethenpa.

According to him, prospective players who would represent India at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup will be picked up after the training in Goa.

Chettri's mother works in a private company. His father died in 2010 from illness.

"I also received a call from AIFF officials asking to bring my son to Goa soon. I will be leaving tomorrow (July 6). I am happy that he has made us proud. Football is his passion and started playing when he was merely six years old," the mother, Phigu Chettri, had toldThe Telegraph on July 5.

Chettri left for Goa along with his mother on Monday.