Sports Revolution in Rural Punjab: Roundglass Foundation Village Sports Festival 2026 to Begin September 19, Over 25,000 Young Athletes to Participate
More than 25,000 young athletes from rural Punjab are set to participate in the third edition of the Roundglass Foundation Village Sports Festival 2026, beginning September 19.
More than 25,000 young athletes from rural Punjab are set to participate in the third edition of the Roundglass Foundation Village Sports Festival 2026, beginning September 19. According to the Foundation, over 2,000 teams representing more than 1,400 villages will compete across 70-plus venues, making the initiative a large-scale grassroots sporting platform for the state.
The festival will feature football competitions for U-14 and U-17 teams, while volleyball will include U-14, U-17 and U-21 categories. Competitions will progress through cluster, block and zonal stages before the grand finals in Mohali in November. The opening ceremony is scheduled for September 19 at 4 PM at Kalewal PDC Sports Ground, Majri, on the Kharar–Kurali bypass, followed by an U-14 football match.
Roundglass Foundation says the initiative is designed to give children from villages access to structured competition while encouraging confidence, discipline, teamwork and leadership. The organisation says its wider Sports Centers programme has enrolled 45,000 children across more than 1,500 centres, supported by over 600 Sports Changemakers and community coaches.
The Foundation has been working in Punjab since 2018 across youth development, environment and sustainability, and women’s equity. Organisers say the expanding Village Sports Festival is intended to provide rural athletes with more opportunities to play, compete and showcase their sporting potential beyond their villages.
