By DIPANJAN SINHA
Calcutta, Aug 7 : Lalremruata is kicked. After all, the Mizoram boy will be flying to Munich next month to train with Bayern Munich FC coaches at the top club’s home ground, Allianz Arena.
The Class IX student of Government Republic High School, Aizawl, is one of the five teenagers selected to attend the five-day training programme — Bajaj Allianz Junior Football Camp Season III. Lalremruata and the four others bagged top spots from among 38,000 contenders from all over India.
India has been sending five boys to the Allianz Arena for the last two years to attend a match as well as to meet football stars from FC Bayern Munich like Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery and Thomas Muller, among others.
The young stars will get the opportunity to train with Mohun Bagan’s Youth Development Programme.
The selection process this year in Calcutta and other cities, which saw participation of students from 400 schools, began from June 14 and ended on July 27.
Lalremruata, who has been playing football since childhood, shares a love of the game with his father V. Hranglura, an official of the public health engineering department in Aizawl. So, as soon as he got a ticket to his dream in Calcutta, he called up his father.
He narrates the journey so far with much excitement.
“Boys were invited from different schools in Mizoram and a trial was held at the Ramhlun sports complex. Two of us were selected to go to Calcutta, where there were several rounds of selection. It was like a dream come true when I finally realised that I was among the top boys."
The camp in Munich is scheduled for September. The most promising players selected in Calcutta were Lalremruata from Aizawl, Akash Mandal from Calcutta and Gobinda Kar from Bardhaman.
The other two players who will accompany them to Munich are Akshay Sharma from Chandigarh and Jibin Devassy from Kerala who were selected in the national trials held in Pune.
The winners were selected by a panel of Mohun Bagan Youth coaches led by Kalyan Chaubey, former international goalkeeper and current head of youth development.
Chaubey said, “There is immense talent for football in this region. The exposure that the Junior Football Camp will give them is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that they should make the most of, especially those looking to pursue football at a professional level. Their interaction with the biggest names in international football will go a long way in shaping their future in football.”
On his future plans, Lalremruata, whose favourite pastime is watching Dutch footballer Arjen Robben play when actually not playing himself, says, “I don’t know what will happen in the future. For now, I am just looking forward to having a good time at the camp. I will continue to play for Aizawl FC.”
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