Last week, a unique football tournament called ‘Goal In Saree’ was held in Indore, featuring eight women’s teams from the Gwalior district in Madhya Pradesh. As the name suggests, all participants wore sarees instead of sports jerseys during the matches.
The tournament, which was sponsored by the Gwalior Municipal Corporation and the Senior Member Association of Junior Chamber International, was the second edition of its kind. The players, aged between 20 to 72 years, were clad in sarees as they fiercely competed in matches held on March 25 and 26.
A video from one of the tournament’s matches, showing IAS Kishore Kanyal, who currently serves as Commissioner of Municipal Corporation Gwalior, doing the commentary as the players engaged in the match, has gone viral. The clip has garnered thousands of views since it was posted on Sunday by journalist Prabhu Pateria (@PrabhuPateria).
The theme of the tournament was “Wear Saree and Stay Fit,” and according to Anjali Gupta Batra, a social activist and one of the tournament’s organizers, this theme was successfully achieved. She was quoted as saying that women from other districts in the region, including Datia district, have already approached them for entry in the next edition, which is still a year away. She added that they may see a bigger ‘Goal In Saree’ tournament next time, where not only teams from the Gwalior district but also other districts will turn this district-level tournament into a state-level event.