Fighting odds, 5 Haryana girls dribble their way to FIFA U-17 Women World Cup

These Haryana players will play for the country in the ongoing FIFA U-17 Women World Cup being held in India from October 11-30

: Showcasing exemplary determination and not letting their humble backgrounds become a roadblock in fulfilling their dreams, five girls from Haryana’s Hisar and Bhiwani districts have made it to the Indian football squad in the ongoing FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup.

Fighting odds, 5 Haryana girls dribble their way to FIFA U-17 Women World Cup

The girls, Varshika and Shailja from Bhiwani’s Alakhpura village, Neha and Kajal from Hisar’s Mangali village and Naketa from Hisar’s Chuli Badiyan village, belong to the families of marginalised farmers and labourers.

These players will play for the country in the ongoing world cup being held in India from October 11-30.

Varshika’s father Surender is a marginalised farmer in Alakhpura village. She lost her mother from cancer in 2008 when she was just 1 year old. Shailja is the daughter of a daily wager from the same village in Bhiwani district, which is considered as a hub of women footballers.

Neha’s father Dharambir is a MGNREGA worker, while Kajal and Naketa’s fathers have small land holdings.

Overcoming challenges

Sonika Vijarniya, a football coach, said she has been on deputation at a government senior secondary school in Alakhpura for the last ten years.

“I had noticed Varshika and Shailja when they used to come to the playground to see the football matches. Shailja’s parents are daily labourers and it was very difficult for me to convince them as they could not provide good diet to their daughter, but later they agreed,” she said.

Vijarniya said that at least 20 girls playing football from Alakhpura have got government jobs. Majority of women football players in the state come from Alakhpura and Mangali villages.

“We used to organise friendly matches every week and our morning practice starts at 5.30 am and culminates at 7 am. The evening session continues from 3 pm to 7 pm. More than 250 girls have been practicing at our ground,” she added.

Varshika’s father Surender said his daughter had visited home last time in May and for the last few weeks, she has not been able to call home due to her practice sessions for the world cup.

“Her elder sister Kajal is also a national player and she too brought laurels to the family and village. It was difficult for me to run the family after the demise of their mother and it was tough for me to induct both my daughters into football. I ensured my daughters got milk, desi ghee, churma, chickpeas and curd daily. I worked hard in the fields, besides taking care of my cattle,” he added.

Neha’s father Dharambir said that his daughter’s success goes to her coach Sukhwinder Kaur, who had recently been transferred to Panchkula.

“She asked me to send Neha to the football ground at the village’s government school several times. I told her that I could not bear her diet and shoe expenses. She helped us a lot and Neha too proved her coach right by performing well at every level,” he added.

Sukhwinder, a government coach, said she had trained the girls at Mangali village for more than 10 years.

“Initially, I had to bring girls from their homes. These girls come from poor families and diet is a major issue. In villages, milk, curd and chickpeas are easily available, so they are dependent on this diet. There is immense talent in Haryana villages,” she said.

Sukhwinder said Kajal and Neha have huge potential and when they received a scholarship of ₹ 75,000 from the state government after winning a medal in the national games, this amount was huge for their families.

Vinod Kumar, who has been training girls free of cost at Hisar, had trained Naketa. He alleged that due to approach and recommendation, many girls, including Naketa could not represent Haryana, forcing him to send these girls to play for Himachal Pradesh. ENDS