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<ul><li><keyword id="7489387" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="kho-kho-federation-of-india">Kho Kho Federation of India</keyword> is launching “Ultimate Kho Kho.” </li><li>Vice Chairman of Dabur, Amit Burman, will be launching the league in association with Kho Kho Federation of India (KKFI). </li><li>The first season of the league is expected to launch in September and October.</li></ul>In a bid to revive interest in India's traditional sports, Kho Kho Federation of India is launching “Ultimate Kho Kho” an IPL-like-league. India’s sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore is expected to kick off the league,<a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/sports/kho-kho-to-get-its-own-league-soon/articleshow/68680124.cms"> reported </a>Economic Times. The vice chairman of Dabur, Amit Burman, will be launching the league in association with Kho Kho Federation of India (KKFI). Kho Kho is one of the oldest forms of outdoor sport played by 12 players in a team. Being a game of tag, it is one of the very few field games that requires minimal infrastructure. <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/sports/kho-kho-to-get-its-own-league-soon/articleshow/68680124.cms">As per the tentative </a>plan, the first season of the league will be launched in September and October. There will be a total of eight franchises with 12 players in each team. Every team will have two foreign players, and two players who will be under the age of 21 years. Over the years, the huge success of the <keyword id="6354831" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="indian-premier-league">Indian Premier League</keyword> has captured the attention of several sports association who are trying to promote traditional sports in India. Many of these leagues also have corporate partnerships, making the format lucrative for sports media companies. The <keyword id="2134235" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pro-Kabaddi">Pro Kabaddi</keyword> League has witnessed the fastest growth in terms of viewership and revenue on advertising during its first five seasons. In 2018 alone the last season of Pro Kabaddi League <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/sports/the-story-of-kabaddi-in-numbers-118100500041_1.html"> set a record high viewership of 313 million </a>against 448 million users from last Indian Premier League. It became the second most watch sports on TV, <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/sports/the-story-of-kabaddi-in-numbers-118100500041_1.html">reported</a> Business Standard. Nevertheless, the Indian Premier League will probably still remain the most watched TV sport in the country all because of India’s love for cricket.

After Pro Kabaddi, popular Indian sport Kho-Kho to have its own IPL-like league

<keyword id="20010841" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sports" source="keywords">Sports</keyword> Minister <keyword id="19906409" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mansukh-mandaviya" source="keywords">Mansukh Mandaviya</keyword> on Friday launched the second phase of the <keyword id="22473016" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="KIRTI" source="keywords">KIRTI</keyword> project with an aim to identify one lakh young <keyword id="19929069" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="athletes" source="keywords">athletes</keyword> within 100 days, for support. He felt the nationwide <keyword id="19973896" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="talent" source="keywords">talent</keyword> hunt under <keyword id="20305504" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Khelo-India" source="keywords">Khelo India</keyword> Rising Talent Identification (KIRTI) will prove to be a stepping stone to making India one of the top five nations in the <keyword id="19986816" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Olympic" source="keywords">Olympic</keyword> Games by 2047. "India is full of diversity and potential. There has never been a shortage of brainpower, manpower, or talent in India," said <keyword id="19996309" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mandaviya" source="keywords">Mandaviya</keyword> after launching the second phase of the programme at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here. "Not just the cities, but even in our far-flung areas like the North-East, Coastal, Himalayan and tribal areas can have a quality sportsperson there." In the third Phase, the KIRTI program will include all 20 disciplines of the Khelo India scheme. The first phase of KIRTI was launched in Chandigarh on March 12 this year. "We need to have a steady stream of these high-performing assets and that's where KIRTI, a stepping stone to sporting excellence, comes into play. "Everyone will be given opportunities to develop their sports skills, whether they live in a village or a city, and whether they come from a poor background or otherwise." In Delhi, <keyword id="19950124" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sports-authority-of-india" source="keywords">Sports Authority of India</keyword> (SAI) shall conduct assessment of over 25000 MCD students in 12 zones and cover 5 major disciplines: Athletics, Football, Volleyball, Kabaddi, and Kho-Kho, for almost one month. Addressing school-going children, who attended the launch event, Mandaviya said, "Among you, there will certainly be an Olympic champion. I appreciate the fact that your parents have come and are backing you to play sports."

One lakh athletes to be identified within 100 days under KIRTI: Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Small-business owners and marketing pros say user-generated content boosted their brands on social.</li><li>User-generated content is cost-effective and helps small businesses expand their reach.</li><li>It also builds up consumer loyalty and confidence in tandem with growing brand awareness.</li></ul>There are a lot of reasons to love user-generated content, or UGC, as a small-business owner.For starters, small-business owners told Insider, sourcing photos and videos from users can help businesses quickly generate content to use on their social channels, website, and more."We can scale content volume and frequency, even with a small internal team — and it's less costly than scaling via traditional photo or video shoots," said Angel Kho, cofounder of the baby-products brand <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=3b20ef59e6e3b68255280a7cd308a5f8fd934b71221c4021c57f26084215c34b&amp;postID=64103a42c4cc6f23c379e3f6&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Flouloulollipop.com%2F" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Loulou Lollipop</a>.<div type="image" title="Angel Kho" height="394" width="526" msid="98641310" hostid="261" sizebytes="12260"></div>It also gets results, according to marketing pros. When users post content about a brand on their own channels, it gets the brand in front of new audiences. UGC also provides strong returns when posted on a brand's own channel.In one recent campaign, Kho said she saw over four times the reach and nine times the engagement on UGC versus professionally shot content. "UGC is the modern-day 'word of mouth,'" Kho told Insider. "Having authentic voices speak about, test, and share our products is key for growing our awareness."Insider spoke with several small-business owners to learn how they source user-generated content and use it across channels to maximize their marketing efforts. They shared three key tips.<h2>Encourage users to create content — and help them out</h2>Getting users to be advocates for a company may seem challenging, but in practice, many brands find that sourcing UGC is as simple as asking. The neon<div type="image" title="Clare Jones" height="246" width="328" msid="98641311" hostid="261" sizebytes="13310"></div>-sign manufacturer <a href="https://customneon.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Custom Neon</a> includes a simple flyer with every product it ships that encourages customers to take photos or videos of their signs and post them to their social accounts along with Custom Neon's hashtag."This is the perfect placement for such a request," Clare Jones, the company's marketing manager, said. "The sign is out of the box, switched on, and looking awesome. Whilst they are caught in that excitement, we want in on the action!"Elizabeth McNevin, the founder of social-media-advertising consultancy <a href="https://socialeconsulting.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sociale</a>, suggested that businesses try to ramp up UGC with small incentives, such as offering a discount on future orders for people who post their experience or running a giveaway where customers have to post and tag the brand in order to be entered.Launching an ambassador program with incentives like free products, discount codes, or affiliate commissions can also be a way to turn dedicated customers into <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/3-steps-for-successful-small-business-owner-influencer-collaborations-2023-3">micro-influencers</a> who create content for your brand. <div type="image" title="Lilian Chen" height="3608" width="4799" msid="98641312" hostid="261" sizebytes="340038"></div>Brands that communicate often with their customers can also help them create content to share. Lilian Chen, the cofounder, and COO of <a href="https://barnonegames.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bar None Games</a> has her employees take screenshots of people participating in virtual quizzes and game shows to send to players after the fact. Since doing that, they've seen a huge uptick in customers sharing photos of their teams on LinkedIn and Instagram."It makes it so much easier for people who aren't naturally content creators to post and distribute it to their network," she told Insider.<h2>Use it for more than just organic social media</h2>Reposting UGC on social media is an obvious way to fill your brand's social channels with engaging content. <div type="image" title="Elizabeth McNevin" height="767" width="1023" msid="98641313" hostid="261" sizebytes="20416"></div>McNevin believes that brands must have UGC if they want to run successful ad campaigns. "One of my clients came to me only having used professional, commercialized videos in ads, and their purchase conversions were relatively low," she told Insider.Since implementing UGC Reels and TikTok videos for ads, her company has seen a fourfold increase in click-through rates, a 50% decrease in cost per click, and a return on ad spend ranging from four to 14 times more than its previous two to six campaigns."I've tested so many different creatives over the years, and user-generated content stops people in the feed and makes them curious," she said.Jones found that having a bigger bank of UGC helped her land more press for Custom Neon, providing her team with more beautiful images of the product that they could use to pitch to niche home publications.McNevin also suggests that her clients add UGC to product landing pages to show off how it's being used by real customers. "Once you have the content, there's so many ways that you can use it," she said, encouraging brands to get creative about how they repurpose UGC.But it's important to be aware of copyright and licensing best practices before republishing UGC anywhere. Like other creators in media (photographers, videographers, etc.), UGC creators have the same rights to their intellectual property. McNevin said the easiest way to get permission to use a customer's image on your own brand feeds, press, or ads is to just DM them and ask — but always check with an attorney if you're unsure.<h2>Mimic UGC in your brand-created content</h2>If you're just launching a new brand, still working on encouraging users to share their experiences, or worried about usage rights, McNevin suggested bringing the feeling of UGC into your brand-created content by using more authentic storytelling formats. For instance, Lauren Kutting, the founder of the bag-organizer brand <a href="https://www.totesavvy.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ToteSavvy</a>, shared that she and her team regularly create simple content showing how they actually use their products in their everyday lives, such as at a family outing."Our customers and community respond well to this content because it doesn't look like we're pushing a product. Instead, we're showing them how these products make our lives easier," Kutting said.Over the past few months, the company has shifted to using more of this "mock UGC" in ads and has seen a 118% increase in return on ad spend compared to the first quarter of 2022."Small-business owners should capitalize on creating mock UGC in-house to fill the gaps between their professional content and true UGC," Kutting said. "It's an excellent, low-cost way to amp up your social media strategy while building customer trust in showing your products in a really authentic light."

Small-business owners say they've seen higher sales, skyrocketing click-through rates, and better brand awareness by using user-generated content in 3 smart ways

<ul><li>Overall, spending on sports celebrity endorsements has increased 20% by ₹124 crore to ₹749 crore in 2022, says GroupM ESP Sporting Nation Report 2023. </li><li>About 85% of the total endorsement value, which is ₹640 crore, went to cricketers, and ₹109 crore went to other sports. </li><li>A total of 505 <keyword id="36884" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="brand-endorsement" source="Orion">brand endorsement</keyword> deals took place, out of which 381 deals were with cricketers. </li></ul>Indian cricketers are said to be enjoying the leverage that comes from the popularity of cricket – which is more of a religion in the country. Indian cricketers apparently not only earn a huge chunk from brand endorsements, but are among sport personalities to attract large endorsements. Overall, spending on sports celebrity endorsements has increased 20% by ₹124 crore to ₹749 crore in 2022 from ₹625 crore in the previous year, says GroupM ESP Sporting Nation Report 2023. About 85% of the total endorsement value of ₹749 crore, which is ₹640 crore, went to cricketers. The remaining ₹109 crore went to other sports. A total of 505 brand endorsement deals took place, out of which, 381 deals were with cricketers. The top athletes in sports celebrity brand endorsement are <keyword id="6354486" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="virat-kohli" source="Orion">Virat Kohli</keyword>, <keyword id="6354832" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ms-dhoni" source="Orion">MS Dhoni</keyword>, <keyword id="13937" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rohit-sharma" source="Orion">Rohit Sharma</keyword>, Sachin Tendulkar, Neeraj Chopra, and PV Sindhu. In fact, the average deal value involving cricketers is 1.8 times that of athletes from emerging sports. Virat Kohli continues to be the topper of brand endorsements with 30 brands From being a brand ambassador to ethnic wear brand Manyavar, wearables brands Noise, e-commerce platform Myntra and several others, Virat Kohli is said to be dominating the brand endorsement space. “Talking of specific individuals in the team sport, recent years have seen Virat Kohli dominating the brand endorsement space in Indian sports, building a substantial lead over the others, in terms of earnings,” said GroupM ESP Sporting Nation Report 2023. Former captain of the Indian cricket team MS Dhoni is another one on the list that makes a huge amount from brand advertisements followed by Rohit Sharma. Apparently, all three Indian cricketers have 30 brands each. The report says that other Team India stars like Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan are also among the big scorers in the endorsement space, be it in terms of overall revenue, or with respect to acquisition of new brands too. New ones on the pitch of brand endorsements are cricketers like Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer. “Cricketers with a more recent ascendancy to the world of stardom, like Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer, can be considered to be the new favourites of brands and they are expected to score at a brisk rate in near future,” said the report. As the Indian women’s team has progressed by leaps and bounds in the last few years, women cricketers like Harmanpreet Kaur, Mithali Raj and Smriti Mandhana are also attracting brand endorsements. With the rollout of Women's Premier League from 2023, these women players are expected to pick up pace in the endorsement arena. Share of other emerging sports in celebrity endorsement gradually picking up Other emerging sports professionals are gradually picking pace in brand endorsement. With the emerging popularity of other sports including Kho Kho, Kabaddi, Hockey and others, the share of cricket in sports celebrity endorsement has come down to 85% in 2022 from 87% last year. While other emerging sports find new audiences, the sport personalities from these segments also find takers from brands. Olympic champion in javelin throw Neeraj Chopra is on the top of the list of athletes from other emerging sports to have mass following, and brands in his kitty. With 12 brands under his belt, Chopra had the longest throw among non-cricketers. Badminton player PV Sindhu has 11 brands in her portfolio. Apart from cricket leagues, as India hosted several other tournaments like Indian Super League, Pro Kabaddi, the Commonwealth Games, Prime Volleyball League, and Ultimate KhoKho and others have helped catch more eyeballs for other sports as well.

With 30 brands each, Kohli, Dhoni & Rohit Sharma rule Indian sports endorsements

Jaipur, Oct 13 (PTI) The Rajasthan government has approved an additional budget of Rs 23.92 crore for activities related to social, educational and economic upgradation of nomadic and semi-nomadic communities of the state. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has approved a proposal to this effect, according to an official statement issued here. With this approval, cycle and scooty distribution, hostel operation and employment-oriented programmes among others can be conducted for the welfare of communities like Gadia Luhar, Banjara, Sansi, Bawri, Bhat, Nut, Madari, Sapera and Baharupia etc. Along with this, a Tribe Research and Preservation Centre will be set up for preservation and upliftment of the traditional arts of these tribes. The chief minister had announced in the Budget for the financial year 2021-22 that a tribe policy would be brought for upliftment of nomadic and semi-nomadic communities of the state and a development fund established at a cost of Rs 50 crore. In another decision, Chief Minister Gehlot has approved a proposal for an additional financial sanction of Rs 10 crore with a view to include shooting ball and kho-kho in the Rajasthan Rural Olympic Games. In the Budget for 2021-22, he had announced that competitions of kabaddi, tennis ball cricket, volleyball and hockey would be organised at gram panchayat, block, district and state levels under the Rajasthan Rural Olympic Games. For this, a financial sanction of Rs 30.10 crore was also given. PTI AG IJT

Rajasthan approves addl budget of Rs 23.9 cr for upliftment of nomadic, semi-nomadic communities

From 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' to 'Margarita with a Straw'. From '<keyword id="791377" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="yeh-jawaani-hai-deewani" source="Orion">Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani</keyword>' to 'That Girl in <keyword id="1343947" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="yellow-boots" source="Orion">Yellow Boots</keyword>'. Not to forget her roles in <keyword id="1245953" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ott" source="Orion">OTT</keyword> series like 'Made in Heaven' and 'Sacred Games'. What has remained constant in actor <keyword id="39062" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="kalki-koechlin" source="Orion">Kalki Koechlin</keyword>'s trajectory is her ability to zero in on scripts that promise to give her enough room to deliver. "Choosing a script... Well, I think it lies more in the gut than in the mind. Something excites my curiosity. Having said that, sometimes I do agree to go ahead because it is good for the commercial viewership or I need the work," she tells IANS. Born in Pondicherry to French parents, <keyword id="701037" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="koechlin" source="Orion">Koechlin</keyword>, who spent a significant part of her childhood in Auroville and studied drama and theatre at Goldsmiths, University of London, will soon be seen in <keyword id="1292176" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="pushan-kripalani" source="Orion">Pushan Kripalani</keyword>'s 'Goldfish' that will have its World Premiere at the 27th Busan International Film Festival. Stressing that she loved <keyword id="13998" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="kripalani" source="Orion">Kripalani</keyword>'s debut film 'Threshold' and wanted to work with him since, the actor adds, "This script was just powerful and profound, there was just no question of not doing it. I needed to have an English accent: Occam. That was largely my prep and many readings over zoom as we were surrounded by the Pandemic's second wave. Pushan did his own camera work and often ran two cameras at the same time for the length of the entire scene. I loved that process, we could react so truthfully and spontaneously." Koechlin, who co-wrote the drama 'Skeleton Woman', which won her The MetroPlus Playwright Award, and made her directorial debut on stage with the tragicomedy 'Living Room' smiles when asked if she still felt like an 'outsider'. "I feel like an actor. And there is no space big enough to hold all our dramatic endeavours." The National-award winning actor feels that while OTT has ascertained much employment and a chance for talent to shine, good content, whether it be in film or OTT is still hard to come by. "If I have anything to crib about, it is that there is too much content to read, and since I always insist on reading the entire thing not just a synopsis, it can get exhausting when the content is not great." Koechlin, who recently wrote the book 'The Elephant in the <keyword id="61809" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="womb" source="Orion">Womb</keyword>', which, among other things talks about the social stigma of abortions and unmarried pregnancies, the toll that pregnancy takes on a body and the unacknowledged domestic labour of women, may not have any plans to write another book soon, but she has surely has learnt how to deal with commentary on her personal life. "Mostly I ignore. Also, I have accepted that as part of the job. If I need privacy, I just switch off my phone." Recalling the lockdown days, she says they were hard. "And I happened to have just given birth. It was a lonely time, and the news was so grim I was afraid to get connected with the outside world. The whole period was an emotional grind, but writing 'The Elephant in the Womb gave me some respite. I was so grateful to have a little part of me still creating, it gave me some routine to the endless feeling of those days." The actor, who just shot for 'Kho Gaye Hum Kahan' is now working on the third season of her podcast with the BBC 'My Indian Life'. "I am really hungry to do more theatre. I have not gotten there yet, with the mum and work balance, but hopefully soon," she signs off. SEE ALSO : <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/non-profits-wanting-to-get-listed-should-have-no-ongoing-it-scrutiny-sebi/articleshow/94341181.cms">Non-profits wanting to get listed should have no ongoing IT scrutiny: SEBI</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/lucknow-to-soon-get-all-women-market/articleshow/94341248.cms">Lucknow to soon get all-women market</a>

Be it film or OTT, good content is hard to come by says Kalki Koechlin

Table tennis star Manika Batra and cricketer Deepti Sharma were among those who were presented the <keyword id="127507" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="National-Sports-Awards">National Sports Awards</keyword> by President <keyword id="6354561" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ram-nath-kovind">Ram Nath Kovind</keyword> on Saturday. Commonwealth Games gold medallist Batra, alongwith Indian women's hockey captain Rani Rampal and 2016 Rio Paralympics gold medallist Mariyappan Thangavelu were presented the <keyword id="9847721" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rajiv-Gandhi-Khel-Ratna-Award-">Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.</keyword> Deepti meanwhile was conferred the Arjuna, as were Atanu Das (archery), Chirag Shetty (badminton), Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (basketball), Manish Kaushik and Lovlina Bograhain (boxing), Sawant Ajay Anant (Equestrian), Sandesh Jhingan (football), Akashdeep Singh(hockey), Deepak (kabaddi), Kale Sarika Sudhakar (kho kho), Dattu Baban Bhokanal (rowing), Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker (Shooting), Madhurika Suhas Patkar (table tennis), Divya Kakran and Rahul Aware (wrestling), Shiva Keshavan (luge), Suyash Narayan Jadhav (para swimming), Sandeep (para athletics) and Manish Narwal (para shooting). Shooting coach Jaspal Rana, who is credited with overseeing the careers of the likes of Saurabh and Manu and thus playing a major role in India's recent dominance in the sport, is among nine coaches who have been conferred the Dronacharya Award in the regular category. Yogesh Malviya (Mallakhamb), Jude Felix Sebastian (Hockey), Kuldeep Kumar Handoo (Wushu), and Gaurav Khanna (Para Badminton) were also conferred the Dronacharya. Meanwhile Dharmendra Tiwary (archery), Purushotham Rai (athletics), Shiv Singh (boxing), Romesh Pathania (hockey), Krishan Kumar Hooda (kabaddi) and Vijay Bhalchandra Munishwar (para powerlifting) received the Dronacharya Lifetime award. Kuldip Singh Bhullar (athletics), Jincy Philips (athletics), Pradeep Shrikrishna Gandhe (badminton), Trupti Murgunde (badminton), N Usha (boxing), Ajit Singh (hockey), Manpreet Singh (kabaddi), J Ranjith Kumar (para athletics), Satyaprakash Tiwari (para badminton), Manjeet Singh (rowing), Late Sachin Nag (swimming), Nandan P Bal (tennis) and Netarpal Hooda (wrestling) were conferred the Dhyan Chand Award. The Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards were conferred to Anita Devi (Land Adventure), Col Sarfraz Singh (Land Adventure), Taka Tamut (Land Adventure), Keval Hiren Kakka (Land Adventure), Satendra Singh (Water Adventure) and Late Magan Bissa (Life Time Achievement). Panjab University won the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy. Pune's Army Sport Institute, Lakshya Institute, Delhi's ONGC, Air Force Sports Control Board, and International Institute of Sports Management (IISM) in Mumbai were conferred the Rahstriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar.

National Sports Awards presented by President Ram Nath Kovind to India’s top sportspersons

<ul><li>A collective called Parcham is using football to empower women and bring equality in India's largest Muslim ghetto — Mumbra.</li><li>However, India's new citizenship laws have been a huge setback to the work that Parcham has been doing.</li><li>"There is a need for us to build solidarities and get to know each other a little bit better," co-founder of Parcham, <keyword id="245150" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sabah-Khan">Sabah Khan</keyword>, told Business Insider in an interview.</li></ul>Football has often been acclaimed as a powerful tool for unity and healing the world. In suburbs of Mumbai, a collective called Parcham is trying to use that magic to empower women in India's largest Muslim ghetto — Mumbra. "We use football to engage with adolescent girls. Through the game, what we're trying to do is, break the stereotype around how people expect girls to be," said Sabah Khan, co-founder of Parcham, in an interview with Business Insider. 
 <div type="image" title="Football Camp - Siddesh Raghavendra-7" msid="74533642" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Football camp hosted by Parcham&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>



 However, India's recent citizenship law, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), isn't making work easy for them. Khan believes that it's widened the divide between the government and the Muslim community. "It has been a huge setback to everything that we've been doing," she said. "We are trying to get past the disillusion that the community has with the government. Off and on things are said — like 'we're secondary citizens', 'no-one's going to be listening to us' and stuff like that." 
 <div type="image" title="Mumbra Practise" msid="74533648" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Football practice in Mumbra&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>



 Currently, one of the collective's main tasks is to find clarity on where elected officials stand on the rollout of the National Population Register (NPR). They have been participating in protests and meeting with officials, but there's no denying that CAA has already had a detrimental effect. "It reinforces the notion that 'we are really not wanted' and 'this is how the country sees us' [among the community]," said Khan. Women have common aspirations — irrespective of religion When Khan decided to introduce the football initiative in Muslim ghettos, there were other options on the table — some girls even suggested playing cricket or kho-kho. However, at the end of the day, only football made the cut. "Football is a means for us to further what we stand for. In that way, football is a team game. It means that everyone is out there together and no one is waiting for anyone else to get run out and leave the field," she explained. 
 <div type="image" title="Football Camp - Siddesh Raghavendra-47" msid="74533651" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Football camp&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>



 Parcham primarily reaches out to pre-adolescent Muslim girls but encourages Muslim and non-Muslim girls to play together. Over time, the collective found that their aspirations have a lot in common, irrespective of which religion they followed. "The kind of atmosphere that the country is going through, there is a need for us to build solidarities and get to know each other a little bit better. In the absence of this kind of interaction, it's a breeding ground for all kinds of prejudice and bigotry," said Khan. 
 <div type="image" title="Interaction with parents 2" msid="74533645" hostid="261"></div>



 Laying claim to public spaces Football is also a way for girls to feel more confident about themselves. Just the simple act of leaving the house to participate in something different is the first step towards an independent life, according to Khan. The idea is to lay claim on public spaces, access to which has been denied to women, particularly in the marginalised sectors of society. "Even in a city like Mumbai, which is cosmopolitan, in public parks you rarely get to see young girls play with mostly boys having access to the grounds," Khan pointed out. 
 <div type="image" title="Sion Practise" msid="74533657" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Football practice in Sion&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>



 However, that's easier said than done. In the beginning, playing in an open field meant getting harassed and leered at. But the band got together and successfully petitioned the electoral representation to allocate a ground specifically for girls so that they can play in peace. Now that field is being turned into a sports ground, which could make room for other sports as well.

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After Pro Kabaddi, popular Indian sport Kho-Kho to have its own IPL-like league

BI India Bureau

One lakh athletes to be identified within 100 days under KIRTI: Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya

PTI

Small-business owners say they've seen higher sales, skyrocketing click-through rates, and better brand awareness by using user-generated content in 3 smart ways

Erin Greenawald

With 30 brands each, Kohli, Dhoni & Rohit Sharma rule Indian sports endorsements

Bhakti Makwana

Rajasthan approves addl budget of Rs 23.9 cr for upliftment of nomadic, semi-nomadic communities

PTI

Be it film or OTT, good content is hard to come by says Kalki Koechlin

IANS

National Sports Awards presented by President Ram Nath Kovind to India’s top sportspersons

IANS

Here's how a collective is using football to empower women and bring unity in India’s largest Muslim ghetto

Prabhjote Gill

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