Gujarat has not been one of India's hotbeds of football in the past. The state did not have a proper football stadium until recently and does not have a single football club representative at the top-tier.
Despite their lack of representation at the club level, the work put in by the Sports Authority of Gujarat (SAG) has earned the state success in age-group categories. The SAG, along with the Gujarat State Football Association led by president Dhanraj Nathwani and secretary Gulab Chauhan have plans to bring the state of Gujarat into the spotlight of Indian football.
State League
At the state level, Gujarat FA are organizing several age-group tournaments. Gujarat has also been conducting state-level championships at regular intervals.
Speaking to Goal, Gujarat FA secretary Gulab Chauhan revealed plans for a separate Gujarat League which would then act as the main state league.
"We are conducting a coaching camp for 10-15 days and then we are sending our state team for the national participation. We are planning to have a separate Gujarat League also," said Chauhan.
Youth Leagues and Women's Football
When it comes to youth leagues, Gujarat's strength is the Sports Authority of Gujarat. The U-15 team of SAG participated in the Nike Premier Cup (U-15 Youth League) this year and U-18 team put on a good display in the U-18 league. The influx of talent is expected to rise in the coming years.
"The Sports Authority of Gujarat has a very good academy. We drew with Minerva Punjab. 100 per cent, we are improving," claims Chauhan.
The Bhavnagar district in Gujarat organized the state's first officially recognized baby league recently and its success has encouraged the other district association members to take up the project as well.
"Based on the baby league organized in Bhavnagar, most of the districts are ready to organize baby leagues in the coming year. In the next annual general body meeting coming up in July, we will discuss baby leagues. Then we will have baby leagues for each and every district association," said Chauhan.
One area that has borne fruit for Gujarat is women's football. Baroda FC were part of the qualifying rounds of the 2018 Indian Women's League (IWL 2018) and the U-14 girls' team clinched Bronze in the Khelo India national tournament.
Plans for the Future
The TransStadia, the newly built stadium in Ahmedabad has solved one of the biggest stumbling blocks that Gujarat FA has faced, according to the secretary of the association Gulab Chauhan. "Now we have a new stadium that has come up in Ahmedabad. We conducted the zonal round of the Santosh Trophy there. They have also started an academy recently.
"Previously, we did not have a stadium for football. Without a stadium, it is very difficult to organize tournaments. The first question AIFF asks is 'how many stadiums do you have?'. Now a stadium has come up and it is a good sign for us. We are now planning to organize more and more tournaments here because we have the infrastructure."
Gujarat FA has 31 district associations working under them and not all are well-equipped with the right infrastructure. With the help of recently appointed president Dhanraj Nathwani, Chauhan believes the sport will be able to reach the rural areas in the state.
"Our president, Mr Dhanraj Nathwani, is from Reliance. He is really interested in developing football in Gujarat. He has lent all kinds of support to the association and is ready to develop football in rural areas."
Lastly, Chauhan also credited the contributions of the Sports Authority of Gujarat and is looking to make full use of the tie-up that the state association has established with the academy.
"The Sports Authority of Gujarat has joined hands with our association. We will organize championships together. We have a plan to organize a U-17 national championship in Rajkot, maybe in the month of October-November. The AIFF has allotted the tournament to Gujarat.
"The SAG has built up 8-10 football fields with a hostel. On request, they will allow us to use it as well."
Certainly, the state associations need to do much more when it comes to developing football in the state.