Kochi: Thirty-five-year-old Ruby S is the mother to two of Kerala’s most promising footballers – Midhun and Mijun Mathias, 15 and 13 years respectively. But her immediate concern is not how her children will fare in their next game of football, but about how to feed them when they return from another of their tiring daily training sessions.

“To get them a pair of boots, I wouldn’t buy fish for two weeks and save around Rs 500,” said Ruby. “I know those boots are of low quality and they will come back after a week or two complaining it has torn. But that is all I can do for them,” said the mother who lives with her children in the coastal village of Mukkola at Vizhinjam, near here.

Mathias K, father of Midhun and Mijun, is being forced to work at a boatyard in Qatar as he has been asked to see out his contract. “He has been gone for two years now. He used to send some money in the first few months, but that has stopped now. I think the children have now forgotten their father,” said Ruby, who also has a daughter Midhushna..

Mithun and Mijun took to football in 2011 when former state footballer Ebin Rose started coaching at Kovalam FC. Their rise has been a stuff of dreams. Mithun captained Kovalam in the Under-15 Youth League organised by All-India Football Federation at Bengaluru earlier this year while Mijun is on the fringes of the Indian under-14 national team after being called up for the Asian Football Confederation’s grassroots festival expected to be held in Iran.

“We borrowed Rs 1,000 from one of our neighbours to get his passport ready in time,” said Midhun while an excited Mijun said, “it is a dream come true to play for India”.

Mijun is an eighth standard student at St Mary’s HSS, Kottapuram, while his elder sibling is now preparing to take his SSLC examinations at the same school.

“Both of them are also really good at their studies. Mijun has been getting the best student award for a few years now, but I want to see them as footballers because that is what the two of them love doing,” said Ruby.

Coach Ebin said it is their dedication and discipline that have helped the duo touch the heights despite their limitations. “Unlike many youngsters, they are well-disciplined on the field as well as off it. The kind and amount of food they take are a cause of worry. But I am sure if they are provided better facilities, they can make it big in Indian football,” said Ebin, the former Viva Kerala FC defender. w an adventure with the national side, while Midhun also has things to look forward to.

(This appeared in The New Indian Express on March 9, 2016)