Ever since their promotion to the I-League in 2018, Real Kashmir FC have emerged as a force to be reckoned with in Indian football -- with a key reason behind it being the passionate support of their fans in Jammu and Kashmir. 

As the nation emerged from the COVID-19 induced lockdown in the last few months, the "Snow Leopards" - as they are also called - strengthened their fan connection with an extensive outreach program that covered numerous parts of the region.

According to club chairman Sandeep Chattoo, a key objective behind the program was to go "above and beyond" and reach out to the grassroots levels, and spread the positivity that the club has generated in the area.

"With the club being here for four years now I realised that we need to go above and beyond what we are already doing. At the I-League level, people love to watch the team. It is a form of entertainment and thus, we made sure that the outreach program has to go to the grassroots level with the activities we did," Chattoo was quoted as saying by the-aiff.com.

"If we could bring so much positivity out of the club from Srinagar, I feel that going to different districts in the interior of Kashmir can also make these places more accessible to people and share the same positive feelings that football brings. All in all, it has been a fantastic experience," he added.

The outreach program was launched in July this year with the intent of reaching out to all districts in Kashmir in order to attract maximum local youths towards the sport and scout for young talented players as well.

Since July 22, the RKFC Reserve team and youth sides (U-18, U-15 and U-13) have played a combined total of 54 matches -- exhibition and tournament games -- in different parts of the region such as Sopore, Baramulla, Chadoora, Pulwama, Anantnag, Pampore, etc.

Additionally, the program features try-outs being conducted in multiple districts like Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian, Sopore and Baramulla across three phases throughout the month of November.

(IANS)