November 25, 2011
Amritapuri Campus
 

A total of fifty-five teams registered for the annual football tournament of the Amritapuri campus, Futsal 2011.
 

One of the most celebrated sports events on campus, Futsal 2011 officially kicked off on October 14 this year. The first game was a friendly game between final-year students and rest of the student community.
 

Final-year students won the friendly game, scoring 2-0.
 

A variant of association football, Futsal is played on a smaller field, with only five players, instead of eleven. Each team has a goalkeeper, of course.
 

Futsal originated in South America. It was first played in 1930 in Uruguay, from where it spread to the streets of Sao Paulo, in neighboring Brazil, where football was already a national craze. Meanwhile, a rule book was developed that was soon adopted internationally.
 

On the Amrita campus, Futsal began in 2008 from students’ initiative. From the beginning, it was an open tournament that anyone could participate in, and was not limited to only a few selected players.
 

“That is how it became a great success, right from the start,” commented Br. Ashish, Faculty, Amrita School of Engineering. Br. Ashish is a member of the organizing team.
 

This year, in addition to the students, teaching and non-teaching staff members also participated. Eight teams competed for the Futsal Staff Cup.
 

The Staff Cup was won by team Non Teaching United; runners-up were Ammachi Labs.
 

The Students Cup was claimed by team Titanz, team Keerikadans came in at runners-up.
 

Futsal for Friendship was the tagline for this year’s tournament; last year’s promoted Futsal for Charity.
 

“Students were so eager to play; they enthusiastically arose two hours earlier every morning to participate in the games and cheer each other,” noted Br. Ashish.
 

“As an additional benefit, they got to exercise in the crisp, morning air,” he added.
 

“It was such a wonderful experience,” commented Damu, student of Integrated MSc, who participated and also helped organize.
 

“Futsal 2011 provided me the opportunity to learn how to coordinate and manage such events,” he said.