Bhubaneswar, July 24: A group of youngsters in the city hosted a football training camp for underprivileged kids to give them an opportunity to hone their skills.

A youth group called We For You organised the camp, which aimed to recognise talented children and provide them a platform to showcase their sporting skills.

"Training camps have always been crucial to enhance talent in a particular field. Children were told about the prospects of the sport and how it can help them develop apart from having fun," said Abhaya Mohanta, a member of the group.

Sahil Sashi, a player from Arsenal Club, Delhi branch, conceptualised the event. Being a football lover, his motive behind organising this camp was to propagate football among children from all the sections of society in the state.

"There are many hidden talents in our country which need to be identified. Such camps are necessary to reach out to those who are interested to play the sport but do not get opportunities," Sahil said.

Sahil has been playing football since he was eight years old. He represented Arsenal Soccer Schools India in the Mare Nostrum Cup in Spain and also played for the academy in many leagues.

The children at the camp were trained in basic techniques of the sport.

A match was played between the students of government high schools of Unit-I and Unit-VI at Kishore Club in Bhubaneswar. Despite heavy rains a huge crowd gathered at the venue to cheer for both the teams.

The Unit-I boys were crowned champions after they defeated the Unit-VI team 3-0. Senior football coach R.K. Mandal was invited as a guest at the event. He gave away the prizes and interacted with the young players.

Siba Behera was adjudged the best goalkeeper, Soumyaranjan Gagarai was the best player and Akshay Nayak won the title of the most valuable player.

To encourage these young sportspersons, scholarships worth Rs10,000 was given to Sukdev Murmu of Unit-I school and Akshay Nayak of the Unit-VI school for their overall performance in the tournament.

The camp was a learning experience for the participants. "I had a great time as I learnt about a lot of new things about football. If I get a chance, I will love to take regular training in the sport," said Sukdev Murmu.

The youth group is also planning to host an inter-school tournament and training camp for the underprivileged children shortly.