Let's football

Punnoose Mammen is a financial analyst. That's what he does for a liv ing, but his passion is

football

.

Actually kicking a ball, not just follow ing the glorious pursuits of European sides in cash-rich foreign leagues or playing in the virtual sphere.

Mammen recalls, a year ago, a casual conversation across an office bay resulted in a few of his colleagues getting together for a five-a-side game post-work. “Soon it became a Thursday feature, late-evening get-togethers,“ he says, “We pooled money, booked a turf and played till midnight,“ the 25-year-old executive says, looking back on his football friendship.

Bengaluru -Garden City, bean town, pub city, India's silicon valley and more recently runners' paradise -is gaining ground as the country's amateur football capital. Mini turfs, hosting five and seven-a-side games, have grown from a mere three to over 60 in the last three years. Working professionals, young and middle-aged, men and women, are getting their football studs out of the shelves and on to the pitch on weekends for conversations and kickabouts.

The city has over 150 amateur football teams, some of which will feature in a newly floated amateur league.

The amateur part is only in format. Amith Reddy , a local businessman, who was instrumental in building

Friends

United, explained that banter and the Beautiful Game are regular features on weekends at the Astro Arena in

Bellandur

. “We started as a small group, but we've grown in number since,“ he says. “We play at least twice a week in the evenings. We've also started to compete in tournaments. We consider the facility as our home ground, we go to other turfs to play too.“

Like the big clubs around the world, Friends United has custom-made uniforms, with different jerseys for home and away games.

Hemant Varghese

, who earlier worked as a manager at the Bengaluru International Airport, started Prakrida Sports, a specialized football store. He explained, “The demand for customized gear is like never before. There is more variety on the racks, footballs and boots especially .“

Amateur football has caught on big time with working professionals, so much so that there are over 10 turfs on the Sarjapur Road stretch alone, catering to the IT industry. Socializing in Bengaluru might well have a new name, with flood-lit facilities being kept open past midnight and into the morning, depending on demand.

Shree Harsha, a representative of AddRush Sports, hosts of the Football Fives League (FFL) for amateur city teams, says, “In every 5-km radius there's a football pitch, either turf or hard ground. There are more than 150 amateur teams including some 50 corporate sides competing in tournaments hosted on weekends on a regular basis here.“

Women too are taking to amateur football in a big way . Rutvi Tiwari, in the finance business, spends most of her evenings playing football with close friends -HR executive Anna Shaji and marketing professional Shanu. “We used to watch our friends play and then decided to try our luck. Now we are hooked to the game,“ recalls Rutvi. Some of the women play alongside the men, while others have got together to form all-girl sides.

Social media has aided the movement, connecting people who are looking to get their kicks from a bit of casual footy . Footballers, even amateur ones, can be picky, not all of them go with the five-a-side version played on modified surfaces.Joseph Anto, a software professional, connected with a group upon moving to the city recently .“Luckily ,“ he says, making little effort to hide his relief, “it was a bunch who play the game the oldschool way on grass and muddy grounds, which requires a lot more stamina and skill unlike tplaying on turfs.“

Clearly, it's got something for everybody -old school or new age, turf or wading through slush, men or women, exercise or exchange.