After concluding the tournaments in different districts, the representatives from these districts came to us and they said that we should organise a state-level tournament. They wanted to make their own districts team and compete with each other in this state-level tournament. After planning the process out about how this tournament will be held, it was decided that the expenses will be incurred by each of the districts.
The winner of the tournament would get to come to Nagpur and they'd also get proper kits and uniforms to play football. To facilitate the money for getting the kids to Nagpur, we went to the house of the former Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Late Nashikarao Tirpude.
We talked to his son about this tournament and told him how we wanted to start this tournament on the name of his father, it would be named "Nashikarao Tirpude Memorial Slum Soccer Men’s State Championship." Tripude sir's family was so impressed with the idea that they still donate money for the tournament every year.
Sixteen districts participated in the tournament and it was a huge success. A North Indian Hindi Newspaper did a feature on our state-level tournament. Right after this, we started getting queries from other states that they also wanted to be a part of Slum Soccer.
When many states contacted us that was the time when we decided to organize a national level Slum Soccer Tournament. It was in 2003 that the All India Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Jhopadpatti football tournament was organised its name has now been changed to the Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Slum Soccer National Championship. Odisha won the first tournament and I think it was around this time that Slum Soccer started to get recognised at an international level.