6 November 2026
Priya was 10 when she kicked a football for the first time. By 2019 she was in Denmark, playing a pivotal part in her team’s win at the Dana Cup, one of the largest youth tournaments in the world. She has since been selected to represent Maharashtra in the under-18 category.
Her story started in OSCAR’s football and life skills sessions, and it raises a question we hear often: can a child from a low-income community really build a future in football? The honest answer is yes for some, and a different kind of yes for many more. This piece looks at what advanced coaching adds to grassroots football, how Excellence Project: Lakshya works as far as OSCAR has published it, and why success is measured in more than professional contracts.
Children in every neighbourhood play football, on shared grounds and in lanes, in the gaps between school and chores. What many of them don’t have is a trained coach, a regular schedule, a proper pitch or a clear route from the neighbourhood game to a trial. Football training for underprivileged children, and sports opportunities for underprivileged children, often depend on whatever the neighbourhood happens to offer. That is a gap in access, not ability. It is the gap that football programmes for children from low-income communities in India try to close.
Grassroots sessions bring children in and keep them coming back. OSCAR’s Football and Life Skills Programme uses an in-house curriculum delivered by AIFF-licensed coaches, and it builds life skills and school attendance into every session. Since 2010, OSCAR has empowered more than 40,000 children and youth in low-income communities in India. That is a reach figure and says nothing about outcomes, so the progress data matters more. Of 5,869 participants who completed both a starting and a final football skill test in 2024-25, 94.11% improved or held steady in at least one technical skill, such as passing, shooting, ball control or dribbling.
An academy picks up where grassroots football leaves off, for children who want to go further. It adds a higher standard of coaching, better training facilities and tournament exposure. Grassroots football India needs both layers: a wide base that any child can join, and a way up for those who are ready. OSCAR, a football for social change NGO, is built around that idea. The support around the player matters as much as the drills, which is why OSCAR keeps school and life skills in the picture at every level.
OSCAR’s programme page describes Excellence Project: Lakshya as offering top-tier coaching, advanced training facilities and tournament opportunities to gifted young players, with the aim of helping them move towards ISL clubs and the national team.
OSCAR’s published stories show what that pathway can look like. Parvez was 10 when he was selected for OSCAR’s Excellence Project. He balanced school and football, played in the I-League for five years and recently earned a place in Mumbai City FC’s under-18 squad. Omkar, who has been with OSCAR for seven years, was also selected for that squad and has competed in the 2nd Division I-League and the U21 Reliance Development League. Sanjana learned the game from scratch, helped her team finish third in a league and earned a place at Excellence Project: Lakshya.
OSCAR’s pages don’t set out how children are selected or what the project costs, so this piece doesn’t guess. If you’d like to know, write to info@oscar-foundation.org.
OSCAR works on one rule: No School, No Football. Children from low-income communities get football and life skills sessions on the understanding that they attend school regularly. Players on the way up aren’t exempt. Parvez balanced education and sport from the start. Arvind, now 18, has re-enrolled in school and is working towards an AIFF D Licence coaching qualification. Baburao went from sessions at school age to a degree in mass media, a teaching job, private tuition and part-time football coaching.
The programme page lists the life skills built into sessions, including communication, problem solving, decision making and coping with stress. A player who never signs for a professional club still leaves with those, and with a school record that stays intact.
Travel is part of how OSCAR widens horizons. In 2025, 14 boys from Mumbai and Daman visited the UK, hosted by Bradfield College, Hall Grove School and Eton College. They received coaching from Manchester City FC, played fixtures and watched a live Premier League match. Earlier, OSCAR’s under-16 girls’ team won the Dana Cup in Denmark, and an under-16 team reached the semi-finals of the Donosti Cup in Spain. The 2025 International Exposure Tour for OSCAR Young Leaders, hosted by the University of Edinburgh, was the first of its kind.
OSCAR’s own experience is that children return from these trips as role models, more motivated to stay in education. After its first UK tour, the organisation also saw parents’ attitudes change about what their children could achieve. That is OSCAR’s observation, and not a measured finding.
Very few children anywhere become professional footballers, and OSCAR doesn’t pretend otherwise. The stories on its website that reach professional squads are a handful. The same stories show a wider set of outcomes. Arvind is training for a coaching licence. Netravati earned her AIFF coaching badge in 2022. Lalu coaches around 100 children every week and runs life skills sessions for them. Since 2010, more than 1,000 young leaders have been trained across India.
That is why OSCAR looks at football skill alongside school attendance, life skills and leadership. A child who reaches an ISL club has had a wonderful outcome. A child who becomes a coach, a teacher or the first in the family to finish school through football has had one too.
If you’d like to help children get the same chance, you can support football education for children through the Support page of OSCAR, a football NGO in Mumbai, or read about the Football and Life Skills Programme first. For the bigger picture, see our piece on what sports for development is and whether it works and why youth-led programmes outlast funding. Every child deserves a route from the neighbourhood game to whatever comes next, whether that is a pitch, a classroom or a coaching badge.
1. How can children from low-income communities get football coaching? Through community programmes run by NGOs promoting football in India, as well as schools and clubs. At OSCAR, children from low-income communities join football and life skills sessions with AIFF-licensed coaches, as long as they attend school regularly. Young leaders from the neighbourhood help run them. Children with potential can move on to Excellence Project: Lakshya.
2. What does a structured football coaching programme for children offer? Planned sessions, trained coaches, regular progress tests and life skills built into the game. OSCAR’s 2024-25 data shows 94.11% of participants who completed both football skill tests improved or held steady in at least one technical skill.
3. How does football help children build a career path? For a few, it leads to academies and professional squads. For many more it leads to coaching qualifications, young leader roles and finishing school. OSCAR’s stories include players in under-18 squads, a coach working towards an AIFF D Licence and young leaders running sessions for large groups.
4. What is Excellence Project: Lakshya? It is OSCAR’s football academy, offering advanced coaching, training facilities and tournament opportunities to gifted young players, with the aim of helping them reach ISL clubs and the national team. OSCAR’s website doesn’t publish selection details or costs, so please contact OSCAR for those.
5. What is the importance of sports for underprivileged children?It gives them a safe, regular place to learn teamwork, discipline and confidence. In OSCAR’s programmes it also gives them a reason to attend school, and exposure to opportunities beyond the neighbourhood.