The bounce-back — the season’s real first tournament.
The Bangalore Champions Cup was the first official tournament of the 2026-27 season — and, after the early KSFA setback, the first real sign that the brand-new Sporthood U-11 Elite group was starting to come together. Four straight wins to open, before a flat draw and a narrow, semifinal-in-all-but-name defeat. Not a trophy — but the point where the coach’s “give them two or three months” finally started to make sense.
Goals and assists are family-recorded from match reports, video and observation — grassroots tournaments don’t keep official stats. How we keep the record.
The Bangalore Champions Cup is a multi-club tournament run by Sporthood at its Centre of Football Excellence, HAL — group games into knockouts, played across several age groups. Avyaan's team was in the U-11 Elite category (2016-born), so he was playing up.
The competitionPart of Bangalore Champions Cup (BCC)
More detailFull tournament details are on the official tournament page
The branding and paperwork that came with the tournament — the posters, the fixtures, the rules — kept here for the record.
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | Pts | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BYFL | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 5 | +3 |
| 2 | Sporthood FC U-10Sporthood’s other team | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 5 | -1 |
| 3 | Young Blues Elite | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 5 | +3 |
| 4 | Roots Football | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | +1 |
| 5 | Sparrows FA | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | -6 |
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | Pts | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ace Football Academy | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 13 | 3 | +10 |
| 2 | Sporthood FC U-11Avyaan’s team | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 2 | +7 |
| 3 | Ultras Football Club | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 6 | +4 |
| 4 | Aurora Sports Academy | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | -5 |
| 5 | The Football People | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 17 | -16 |
On the fieldSporthood entered two teams in the category — Avyaan’s U-11 (Group B) and a U-10 (Group A). These are the group-stage tables; the knockouts and full fixtures are on the official Sporthood page.
A 0–1 loss in a winner-takes-the-final tie — chances that wouldn't go in.
Match reportHeld to a 1–1 draw by a side they'd beaten 4–2 a day earlier.
Match reportA one-sided win — a hat-trick for Abel and a goal for Avyaan.
Match reportAvyaan's assist sets up the only goal in a 1–0 win.
Match reportA second win, 1–0 — Nilan with the goal.
Match reportA comfortable opening 4–2 win to start the season.
Match reportOn the recordFull fixtures and standings are on the official Sporthood tournament page. A couple of caveats, though. The organisers wiped Day 1 entirely — those games can’t be seen there at all — so we’ve kept them here for a complete record. Their page also carries a fair few errors: Avyaan’s name spelled “Abiyan”, the squad listed as 2014-born instead of 2016, and more — part of why we keep our own honest version.
This was officially the first tournament of the season for the Sporthood Elite U-11 team. The last one this group had played was the KSFA Youth Cup — which they lost badly. But they’d come a long way since, and this one turned out to be worth the wait.
After the KSFA disappointment, the boys responded almost exactly as the coach had promised they would. Four wins on the trot — a comfortable 4–2 to open against ASPEX, then three tight, disciplined results — and a group that suddenly started to look like a team.
Then, on the second day, the wheels wobbled. The same ASPEX side they’d beaten 4–2 held them to a 1–1 draw; the boys couldn’t break a packed defence and never quite got going.
The last game was a semifinal in all but name — win and you’re in the final. Against Ace Football Academy they played some of their best football, created chance after chance, and lost 0–1 to the one that got away. Avyaan fought to the final whistle — even carving out a great chance in the last minute that the team couldn’t finish.
“Give the team some time” had been the coach’s line all along. This was the tournament where it finally made sense — and I’m sure he’s proud of how the boys played.
The other parents were extremely happy too — everyone came away pleased with the way the boys played.
The off-pitch record — dashes mark what’s still to be recorded.
To fillAvyaan’s own words on this tournament are still to be added.
After KSFA I’d come away wondering if this was the team he’d be with all season. The coach said give them two or three months. One tournament later — four wins and a group that finally looked settled — I started to see exactly what he meant. Disappointed with the last two games, but the team looks ok now.