Arunava about Football A look at football & the world through my eyes!
Related Articles
The fourth edition of the Little Gaurs League (LGL), organized by the Forca Goa Foundation (FGF), the community wing of ISL side FC Goa, came to a close this Sunday with the Little Gaurs League Super Cup. The two-day event, held at the Salvador do Mundo Panchayat Ground Goa, was a celebration of the best young footballing talent in the state with more than 400 children across 40 teams vying for the title of Super Cup champions.
Previously, more than 1,200 children from 120 teams participated in the LGL this season, playing a combined 618 matches across three zones, viz. North, South and Vasco. The top teams from the league stage were invited to participate in the Super Cup.
This was the latest laurel in a long line of achievements for the Forca Goa Foundation, who launched the Fields of Dreams project earlier this year to provide the grassroots movement in India and Goa with adequate fields. The Gaurs were also handed the Hero ISL Grassroots Award in March.
Meanwhile, the youth teams of FC Goa continued to make waves as well, as they emerged champions at the Goa Football Association (GFA)’s state leagues at the U-13, U-15 and U-17 Men’s levels, while the U-14 Women’s Team finished runners-up.
Nathaniel D’Costa, Forca Goa Foundation’s Senior Manager for Community Football, said, “Organizing the LGL Super Cup this time was more challenging than last year, because we added a whole new category of competition – the U-12 Boys. We needed a lot more space and facilities to conduct it, and I’m grateful for FC Goa’s help with their training ground and the floodlights.
“For most of the teams and the coaches and parents that accompanied them, playing under the lights was a new experience, and the response has been quite encouraging. I would like to congratulate not only the winners, but also everyone else who participated, because above all the LGL is a celebration of the development of the sport and its future, which is all of these youngsters.”
“Obviously, there are areas where we aim to improve. For instance, we seek to increase the number of zones from the current number of three. Going forward, there are more areas in Goa that we’d like to penetrate – hopefully the next edition of the Little Gaurs League will see us succeed,” D’Costa concluded.
Spread across five different age categories in three zones in Goa – the Little Gaurs League hosted mixed team leagues in the U-6, U-8 and U-10 categories. In addition, an exclusive Boys’ League at the U-12 level and an exclusive Girls’ League at the U-13 level was also introduced this season
The LGL Super Cup that concluded on Sunday, saw Goan Champs, YFA and Salgaocar FC emerge champions in the U-6, U-8 and U-10 categories respectively. While Super 30 took home the biggest honours in the U-12 Boys’ category, Vintage 73 Morjim won the U-13 Girls’ competition.
The full list of winners and runners-ups, across all categories, are as follows:
| Category | Winners | Runners-up |
| U6 | Goan Champs | Vintage 73 Morjim |
| U8 | YFA | Denzil Franco Football Schools |
| U10 | Salgaocar FC | Super 30 |
| U12 Boys | Super 30 | Voody Football Academy |
| U13 Girls | Vintage 73 Morjim | The Kings School |
