Editions
SOMATHEERAM LIFFA CUP THE II EDITION
LiFFA CUP was first held in 2017 for the U-14 Category alone. A meeting place for the youths of the India! When it all began on 2017, no one could have imagined what LiFFA CUP, a small youth tournament, would become. The tournament was started by the LiFFA Trivandrum, to provide the opportunity to perform for the young talents. Through this LiFFA CUP, almost a thousand players from all over India have participated in the tournament in the 2019 edition alone. The second edition of LiFFA Cup was held in U-14 and U-16 age categories. This opened up an opportunity for 40 teams from all over the nation with 24 teams in U-14 and 16 teams in U-16 category. The tournament was conducted in a league cum knockout basis with a total of 64 matches played over a period of 11 days
The Inauguration of the Event
The tournament was inaugurated by Chief Guest, Honourable Sri. E.P. Jayarajan, Minister for Sports and Industries, Govt. of Kerala. He had appreciated the initiative taken by LiFFA for organising an event of such a scale and vision, he was awestruck when he came to know that there was live streaming of all the matches and the whole event through social media. He inaugurated the event in the presence of His Grace Most Rt. Rev. Dr. Soosapakiyam M. Archbishop of the Latin Archdiocese of Trivandrum. The special dignitaries like, Sri. Baby Mathew, Dr. Jayarajan David, Rev. Fr. Cleetus, Indian Football Player Sri. Joby Justin and many other dignitaries were present from various corners of our country at that moment and gave their invaluable support for the success of the event. Mr Baby Mathew has been the title sponsor of both the editions of LiFFA Cup through SOMATHEERAM Group of companies. In valedictory function His Excellency Most Re. Dr. Christhudas R. Auxiliary bishop of Latin Archdiocese of Trivandrum presided over the gathering and blessed the event for the great success.
Somatheeram: The Title Sponsor
The SOMATHEERAM AYURVEDA GROUP was the Title Sponsor of the Second Edition of LiFFA Cup continuing on with a positive and nurturing partnership which had begun years back. Mr Baby Mathew, MD of Somatheeram who is also the President of Kerala Athletic Association, has been one of the most supportive well-wisher of LiFFA. Being an active academy existing for the socio-economic growth of a society, we have been at the receiving end of Mr. Baby Mathew’s endless commitment to the development of sports. The first two editions of the LiFFA Cup had the Somatheeram Ayurveda Group as title sponsors wherein we were able to provide really good promotion for the tournament which subsequently means better promotion for the Title Sponsor. Moreover were able to provide additional promotion for all our sponsors and especially the title sponsors through a huge number of hoardings in the grounds, through all the print media and through live coverage etc. We are looking forward to continuing with this nurturing partnership in upcoming editions of LiFFA Cup and the coming years of LiFFA.
Main Sponsor
Marian Engineering college was the main sponsor of the SomatheeramLiFFA Cup. Marian Engineering College has been one of the biggest supporters of LiFFA ever since its inception and it is a really warming occasion to see Marian continuing on with their ever valuable support for LiFFA. Their contributions have been immensely helpful in organising this tournament in such a manner. The support of Marian has been very crucial in the first edition of LiFFA cup too. LiFFA is grateful for this long standing association with marian engineering college and we wholeheartedly thank the director of college Very Rev. Msgr. Wilfred E and hope to continue on with this association.
Participating Teams
The second edition of LiFFA Cup was held in U-14 and U-16 age categories. 40 teams from all over the nation participated in the event with 24 teams in U-14 and 16 teams in U-16 category. The tournament was conducted in a league cum knockout basis with a total of 64 matches played over a period of 11 days at the Kerala University Stadium, Trivandrum. The 40 teams participating in the event had it’s a vibrant and unique game philosophy and style of play for each team. The LiFFA Cup provided an opportunity for the future football stars to integrate and develop with different players and playing styles from all over the nation. The tournament saw the best youth development coaches of the nation. Undoubtedly the presence and interactions of more than 100 professionals with around 800 young players, the best in their age categories, will go on to influence all of their careers. The second edition of the event had many teams that play in Youth I-League as well as junior teams of I-League Champions Chennai City FC as well as Gokulam Kerala FC.
Transportation, Food and Accommodation
The food and accommodation were provided for all the teams who participated in the tournament from their arrival till their return. Many of the teams had arrived 2 days prior to the tournament. All the teams were picked up from Airport or Railway stations and were comfortably taken to their accommodation, the transportation between accommodation and the stadium were also provided by LiFFA in spacious 40 seated buses. St. JOSEPH’S SCHOOL, VISHWAPRAKASH CENTRAL SCHOOL, TSSS CENTRE and BOYS’ TOWN, all of which comes under the same management as LiFFA had supported us by allocating their rooms for our accommodation facility.
Multi Specialty Medical Support
JUBILEE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, TRIVANDRUM had provided complete medical support throughout the LiFFA CUP. Two fully equipped medical nurses were always present in the stadium along with stretcher and stretcher bearers throughout the tournament. All medical support during the tournament was provided by the hospital, even providing a free surgery for a major injury which took place during the tournament. A cardiac equipped ambulance was always present in the stadium for every match in the tournament. Protecting player’s health is one of the major objective of the LiFFA management during the tournament. Our official medical partners Jubilee hospital delivered the medical service to a high standard and benefited from an established, high-quality health care infrastructure and experienced staff.
Social Media Live
THE GOLDEN CIRCLE(TGC) SPORTS MARKEETING COMPANY had supported LiFFA for the live streaming of all the matches. HD streaming was provided for all the matches using 6 HD cameras with the help of a 15 members professional team. During the 11 days of the tournament, on an average 6 matches were taking place every day all of the matches were streamed live through the Facebook page of LiFFA Trivandrum. We were able to garner a huge following, often getting more than 2 thousand views for live telecasting of the matches on the Facebook page of LiFFA Trivandrum. This was first of its kind in India covering all the matches of an age category tournament. The live streaming put LiFFA Cup above almost all of the age category tournaments conducted in India. We were able to get many positive reviews from the managements of the teams as well as parents of the participating players from all over India. Moreover the match footages were used by all teams to analyse the performance of themselves and their opponents and this was evident in the performance after the first round of matches.
The Closing Ceremony
A tournament which saw the most talented in their age from all over the country saw a fitting climax to the whole event through a truly international closing ceremony with all the current professional players from the region including the upcoming superstars of Indian football Soosairaj Michael and Joby Justin. The closing ceremony was graced with the presence of Tourism and Devaswom Minster of Kerala, Shri KadakampallySurendran, Shri V Sasi, Deputy Speaker of Kerala, Shri V Sivankutty, President Trivandrum DFA, Most Rev. Dr Christudas D, Auxiliary Bishop of Latin Archdiocese of Trivandrum, Dr Jayarajan David, Director of Physical Education, University Of Kerala, Mr Baby Mathew, M.D. Somatheeram Ayurveda group of companies. The awards were given to the future promises of indian football, both the players and all other technical support required for the development of football, in a pompous ceremony blessed with the presence of all the above said eminent personalities in their respective fields. At this moment of time we can only look forward to the future editions of LiFFA Cup pushing the boundaries of what can be done.
CHAMPIONS OF LiFFA CUP
U - 16
2019 – LiFFA TRIVANDRUM
U - 16
2019 – LiFFA TRIVANDRUM
2017 – NNMHSS, CHELEMBRA