Farm labourer's son on his way to World Cup in Brazil

Speak to Homkant Surandase and yoursquoll find him brimming with confidence full of ideas and having a soldierlike focus Itrsquos difficult to believe that the 25yearold was once without hope in life and had even contemplated suicideHAVING A BALL Surandase with CEO of Slum Soccer Abhijeet BarseSurandase is the head coach at Slum Soccer a Nagpurbased NGO that works with children of the slums commercial sex workers homeless orphans and improves their lives through football He himself nurtured his football skill with them Hard work perseverance and guidance earned him a job at Slum Soccer where he now trains other coaches who help children play footballSlum Soccer teaches underprivileged children life lessons through footballldquoWe use football as a tool for social development We teach children the importance of a healthy lifestyle education and making decisionsrdquo says Abhijeet Barse the CEO of Slum Soccer whose father Vijay Barse first started organising tournaments for slum children in 1998 after he noticed them playing in the rainsSlum Soccer was established in 2002 Abhijeet left his US postdoctorate fellowship to take charge of his fatherrsquos baby around 2006 ldquoFootball is a simple sport ndash all you need is a ball and some open space In fact we used to play with broken plastic buckets initiallyrdquo recalls Abhijeet When children play the sport they learn teamwork discipline and focus It inculcates in them a spirit of leadership and friendship while developing their social skill sets Through its carefully developed curriculum the NGO spreads awareness about key issues such as education gender equality HIVAIDS environment and health Girls are especially encouraged to play many have broken social barriers and discovered themselves through the gameSlum Soccer reaches out to over 8000 children in various districts of Vidarbha region of Maharashtra and adjoining Madhya Pradesh Practice sessions are held almost every day ndash on condition that children enrol and attend school Coaches keep a regular check on their wardsrsquo attendance records The NGO has successfully rehabilitated social misfits many of whom were well on their way to becoming antisocial elements and has transformed them into mature confident individualsIt was Abhijeet who met Surandase back in 2007 when the latter had run away from his village Ner Parsopant in Yavatmal one of the areas where Vidarbha farmers were committing suicide Surandase was the son of a marginal farm labourer ldquoIt was a very difficult time Farmers around me were committing suicide as they couldnrsquot repay loansrdquo Surandase told midday Having no desire to learn in a government school that had no teacher anyway he and his friends took to loitering Someone in the village had acquired a deflated football the boys sewed it up and started playing every day Soon a slum football tournament came to a nearby town ldquoI thought ndash why not We were doing nothing anywayrdquo says Surandase who was then 17 years oldOrganised by Slum Soccer the tournament resulted in Surandase getting selected and representing Maharashtra at nationallevel slum football However the glory was shortlived The situation in his village had worsened with suicides on the rise and his parents telling him to quit football The frustrated boy ran away to Nagpur where he met AbhijeetLeading the pack Slum Soccer completely changed Surandasersquos life In 2008 the organisation became a member of the streetfootballworld network FIFArsquos strategic alliance partner and CSR arm The same year Surandase was part of the squad for the Homeless World Cup in Melbourne an international tournament involving more than 60 countries The exposure to global cultures and ideas had opened his mind and made him determined to change the lives of other children like him through footballAndy Hook the director of Homeless World Cup came down to India for a training programme to develop coaches for Slum Soccer Surandase immersed himself into the sessions and learnt how to become a coach ldquoAbhijeet Sir groomed me ndash he brought me videos material to learn new skillsrdquo adds the role model for all children playing with Slum SoccerSurandase is regularly deputed to different centres of the NGO to encourage people to play football ldquoThe game helps children love who they are and gives them confidence and hoperdquoHe himself is realising his own dream ndash of going to the Mecca of football Brazil Surandase is one of 32 youths chosen for a global leadership forum to be held at Rio de Janeiro during the FIFA World Cup 2014 this June At the event which is organised by FIFA affiliate streetfootballworld participants will share ideas and discuss how football can bring about social change in their countriesThe Lionel Messi fan also hopes to catch a game or two ndash and if Lady Luck allows meet his hero ldquoI just love his skills and the way he slices through the worldrsquos best defencesrdquo he says admiringly He eventually wants to become a physical education instructor in a college but is currently busy preparing his wards for the Homeless World Cup in October