Five-a-side football, new sport for students

An increasing number of college students and young professionals are taking to five-a-side football, a smaller version of the actual game, both for physical fitness and serious competition
In a cricket-crazy nation, where most discussions are currently centered on the IPL, other sports often take a backseat. However, a bunch of energetic and enterprising youngsters in the city are fast beginning to change that trend, inspired by the exploits of footballers at the international level.
An abridged version of the 90-minute game, five-a-side football is fast rising in popularity in the city, with colleges and working professionals participating in tournaments conducted each year. Each team fields five players rather than the usual eleven, with three rolling substitutes, and the duration of the game is 30 minutes.
Five-a-side tournaments conducted in the past three years have attracted not just colleges, but even companies and district-level teams, who participate to hone their skills and fitness levels. “This is the third year that we are conducting the five-a-side tournament, and participation has been increasing each year, through positive word-of-mouth. This was an initiative taken by a group of friends to popularize sports other than cricket, and we are expecting at least 25 teams to participate in a tournament on May 19 and 20,” says Ashwin Ramamurthy, a college student and one of the main organizers.
While it may not be as long as in duration as the regular football game, five-a-side football turns out to be more physically taxing, as it involves moving quickly in short bursts of speed. “It is a myth that five-a-side football is physically less demanding than the eleven-player format. Since the pitch is smaller, the players need to keep running to both sides of the pitch, and it requires greater stamina, speed and accuracy in passing than in regular football,” reasons Harjeev Singh, another active participant.
Though the concept has been developing in the city, with more tournaments being organized by sports management firms and sponsors chipping in with financial support, growth has admittedly been gradual.
“The government has to come forward to support sports other than cricket. There is a lot of sporting talent in the country, but media has to focus on and raise awareness about other sports as well,” Harjeev adds.
“The intention of having regular fives tournaments is to bring out the best football talent from Coimbatore, and it is only if more teams begin to participate and take up the sport that it will be successful. There are many divisional players, and some national junior footballers who have formed their own teams and participated in our tournaments. We have kept it open for all, and anybody who has the passion for the game can test their skills in this tournament,” says Hariram Ranganathan, who has formed his own football club along with his close friends.
“People from the same neighbourhood can also form their own team and just play. Our team, comprising friends from the same colony finished runners-up in a tournament held in Chennai last year,” Hariram points out proudly.
With over 80 footballers expected to participate in the upcoming tournament and more professionals joining in, looks like Kovai is set to bring out the ‘high-fives’ for football.