Santosh Trophy tournament in india

The Santosh Trophy is the Indian National State Trophy which started in 1941. The trophy was donated by the Indian Football Association (IFA) and is named after the president of the Indian Football Association (West Bengal's football association) at the time, Sir Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhary of Santosh, Santosh Trophy is an association football knock-out competition contested by the regional state associations and government institutions under the All India Football Federation (AIFF), the sport's governing body in India. 

Before the start of the first national club league, the National Football League, in 1996, the Santosh Trophy was considered the top domestic championship in India.[1] Many players who have represented India internationally played and gained notoriety while playing in the Santosh Trophy. The tournament is held every year with 31 teams who are divided into groups and who must qualify for the tournament proper through the preliminary round. National team players and I-league players were not allowed to participate in the tournament.

Indian football lacks tournaments at senior, under 19, under 16 etc... levels such tournaments may build enough football nursery all over India and will contribute considerable improvements in the Indian football. Recently Lakshadweep, the tiny islands of Arabian sea participated in Satosh trophy (2017) and played amazingly, even the islander’s still stands decades back in the technical and professional side of modern football. They played and got appreciated with their total football against Tamil Nadu, Services and Telingana. They even won against Telingana with their amazing total football. Hence, IFA should fund for the tournaments at different levels for building up the professional football and utilise the scope of football in Indian union.