India, May 24 -- At a Punjab village known as much for its fight against drugs as for its growing football culture, a grassroots academy has quietly emerged with focus on one simple idea - keeping children on football fields and away from the streets.

Youth Football Club (YFC) in Rurka Kalan, Jalandhar district, believes in developing players from the ground up, hoping to make a contribution, however small it may be, in the growth of Indian football, which is currently grappling with myriad problems like uncertainty over domestic league structure, lack of commercial partners, salary delays, etc.

The academy, which recently bagged India's runners-up finish at the Street Child World Cup 2026, currently trains nearly 250 children free of c...