The NMMC Yashwantrao Chavan Ground in Navi Mumbai hosted the first ‘Kick Off The Dream™’ Football Carnival, a legacy initiative of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup India 2022™, on Monday 25 April 2022. More than 650 children from various schools in the Navi Mumbai area took part in various activities at the event. The football carnival featured a host of football-themed fun-filled games, activations and challenges all centred around the idea of Football for All.

The main goal of the 'Kick Off The Dream' football carnival is to encourage children to break gender stereotypes by normalising inclusive participation through football-themed games activities.

The kids participated in the various activities with great excitement, enthusiasm and happiness. The highlights of the day included a header challenge, a football-style dart board challenge, freekick challenge and kids lending expression to their creativity on a campus through brush and colours. A 5-vs-5 football challenge was also organized, in which 16 teams engaged in healthy competition. It was a fun day for the kids, as they gathered around various activity zones to try the fun-filled games. The carnival also saw the attendance of a special guest, Ibha™ and the official mascot of FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup India 2022™ was an instant hit among the kids. Apart from the activities and games, a special freestyle football show was also arranged for the kids, which left them mesmerised.

"Kick Off The Dream Football Carnival™ is a special event aimed at involving children in football-themed events where they have fun while also learning about teamwork and leadership", said Nandini Arora, Project Director LOC FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup India 2022™. "But most importantly, our aim through this event is for kids to experience the joy that millions across the globe experience from playing The Beautiful Game. "It is extremely encouraging to see the enthusiasm of every stakeholder involved in conceptualising and executing this launch event, which is the first of many. Ultimately, it is the excitement of the children participating in the carnival which has us very eager for future events." The carnival also saw the attendance of Shri. Manojkumar Mahale, DMC, Sports Department, NMMC, and Shri. Jaydeep Pawar, DMC, Education Department, NMMC along with Nandini Arora and Ankush Arora, Project Directors for the LOC FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup India 2022™.