Kotala, a village in Samrala block situated between Ludhiana and Chandigarh, is gaining attention for an extraordinary reason. Its government-run senior secondary school is making headlines in the sports world. Remarkably, eight out of the eleven players representing Punjab's under-19 football team at the National School Games in Ludhiana hail from this school.
The school's reputation in football has become so significant that some students have transferred from private schools to Kotala just to play for its team. Kotala is also known for nurturing football talent, including former Indian midfielder Jagpreet Singh.
“The eight players include Class XII students Mahima Walia, Arshdeep Kaur, Navneet Kaur and Gurkanwalpreet Kaur. Mahima and Arshdeep say the men in their families would play football and encouraged them to take up the sport. Rasleen Kaur, now in Class XI, enrolled in the school in Class VIII. “I shifted from a private school,” she says.
Her classmate Amritpal Kaur lives in Todarpur village, 3km from Kotala, but cycles or runs to the school for practice. The eighth player is Prabhjot Kaur, a Class IX student who has been playing for five years. School principal Gurjant Singh, an MA in physical education, joined the school in 2015.
“We have two football grounds. We are also home to Kotala Football Club and a training school, Guru Angad Dev Academy. To support students, villagers provide the diet and kits,” he says. “Jagpreet, an international footballer who now lives in Canada, arranged air tickets for our U-17 football team to tran in Indore,” he adds.