There is a clean, open pathway from a Jammu turf to a national jersey, and this week it ran right through the city. The J&K Sports Council held open selection trials to build the Union Territory's junior boys football team for the Dr B.C. Roy Trophy 2026-27 — the All India Football Federation's junior national championship — and the first round was played in Jammu.
How it worked
The Jammu-division trials were held on the synthetic turf at the Mini Stadium, Parade Ground, on 31 July and 1 August, with the Kashmir-division trials at the TRC turf in Srinagar. The best from both divisions then met at the UT-level trials on 3–4 August at the TRC Football Stadium, Srinagar, where the actual squad shortlist takes shape.
The one hard filter was age: the trials were open to boys born between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2012, resident in J&K. No fees, no fancy credentials — turn up, be the right age, and play.
What happens next
Selection at the UT level isn't the finish line. Players who make the cut go into a coaching camp in Srinagar before the final squad is named, and some may be asked to clear an AIFF bone-age verification test — the federation's standard check to keep junior football honest about age. From there, the squad carries J&K's colours into the national championship.
Why it matters for young Jammu
Open trials like these are the least glamorous and most important rung of the sporting ladder — the moment a kid from a Jammu neighbourhood, with no contacts and no academy fees, gets seen. That the process started on a Jammu ground, not only in Srinagar, is a small but real signal that the pathway is meant to reach across the UT. For the players who impress in the Srinagar camp, the next stop is national-level football; for the ones who just missed, it is a clear map of exactly what to train for next year.
Sources: Greater Kashmir, Rising Kashmir.
