‘Getting a jersey from Bhutia is special’

Dawn experimented with various sports before he zeroed in on football. Starting off as a cricketer,Dawn moved on to gymnastics before the football fever set in. “I was playing part-time at Kumartuli (Club) in Shyambazar before Gautam Sarkar — former East Bengal goalkeeper and Kumartuli coach — asked me to take it up professionally. It worked out because the India-wide talent-hunt was just around the corner,” Dawn said.

At the unveiling of the Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy in the Capital on Tuesday,Dawn was felicitated by India national coach Bob Houghton,All India Football Federation (AIFF) general secretary Alberto Colaco,Bhaichung Bhutia and Sunil Chhetri. Just a day after India’s Nehru Cup win,Dawn said he was privileged to be in Bhutia’s company. “It is great to receive this honour from Bhutia. To receive a jersey from him a day after the Nehru Cup victory feels really good,” the 15-year-old said.

Having already enrolled for the next batch at the Tata Football Academy (TFA) commencing March 2010,Dawn is proud to follow in the footsteps of the current Indian goalkeeper Subrata Paul. “Paul is a TFA graduate,and if all goes well,one day I too will wear India colours.”

‘Change is neccessary’
The 32nd edition of the Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy — a grass-root level football initiative to unearth football talent in the country at the under-16 level — will this time be played across 31 states in over 400 districts involving more than 6000 young players.

This time around,the format of the tournament has been changed to accommodate five group matches for each participating team,and has been divided into two phases so that teams of geographical proximity play each other. Bhutia has welcomed the new format and said it would give the youngsters more opportunities to be noticed.

“I began my football career at the Mir Iqbal Hussain under-16 level for Sikkim,” the Indian skipper said. “Earlier,teams from Sikkim and Manipur used to travel all the way to Kerala and play only one match. It was disappointing to travel all that distance for just 90 minutes. I always believed that the number of matches each of the teams play must increase and I am glad it has happened,” explained the 33-year old,adding,“grassroot level is where the real talent lies.”