New Delhi, Sep 13 (IANS): As part of the Golden Baby Leagues initiative nearly 600 children took part in the 2019-20 season, with half of them being girls, in Rurka Kalan village, 30 km from Jalandhar district headquarters.

The village's Youth Football Club, formed in 2001, conducted separate leagues for boys and girls in the U-6, U-8, U-10, and U-12 categories, with the girls' edition receiving "tremendous response" in particular.

The initiative was launched by AIFF in 2018 to engage children in the age group 6-12 in football and give them exposure to the sport from a very young age. In communities across the country, it is also helping break societal stereotypes and drive social change in the right direction.

"Our network covers 20-25 schools in local areas with a lot of them being girls' schools. This time, we had separate leagues for boys and girls in four age categories which allowed us to involve more children. The response we have got for the girls' league has been tremendous," league operator Rubby Ali told www.the-aiff.com.

With playing opportunities limited for girls and many children spending excessive time on mobile phones and screens, one of the objectives of the initiative included getting children out of their houses and putting them through physical activity.

Through a network of youth mentors, meetings were held with parents in the areas -- who eventually showed great interest in sending their young girls to play and even got involved.