RAIPUR: In Bastar’s Abujhmarh, a region long associated with remoteness, insurgency and missed opportunities, a quiet football revolution is unfolding.At the heart of it is the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Ashram in Narayanpur district, which has emerged as an unlikely but powerful nursery of talent for Chhattisgarh football. Its imprint is all over the ongoing Khelo India Tribal Games, where a large chunk of the state’s men’s and women’s football squads has come through the ashram’s system.The women’s team has already entered the final, while the men have made the semifinals — and in both line-ups, around 12 to 13 players are from the Ramakrishna Mission setup, said Chhattisgarh football association assistant general secretary and AIFF executive committee member Mohan Lal.Established in 1986 to work for tribal upliftment in the deeply forested Abujhmarh belt, the ashram has gradually built far more than a school. It now stands as a residential institution where education, discipline and sport go hand in hand for more than 2,700 children across age groups.For decades, the mission has drawn children from some of the most inaccessible tribal villages in Bastar, many with little exposure to structured schooling. Every year, around 50 to 60 students from the institution go on to compete in national-level events from the campus.Mohan Lal said sport has played a transformative role for tribal children growing up in areas scarred by years of Maoist violence, giving them structure, ambition and a wider world to aim for. “In many ways, it is one of the best residential schools in the country,” he said.The football journey has also moved beyond state-level success. The Ramakrishna Mission Football Academy became the first club from Chhattisgarh to participate in the AIFF’s Under-17 Youth Cup and later in I-League 2, signalling how a campus tucked away in Abujhmarh is now producing players capable of competing on the national stage.
