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India’s U-17 football World Cup team: Tales of ambition, grit and poverty
Ashtam Oraon, Purnima Kumari, Nitu Linda, Anita Kumari, Sudha Tirkey and Anjali Munda from Jharkhand are representing India in the U-17 football World Cup
Till April 2022, Gorratoli was a small nondescript village under Banari panchayat in Bishunpur block, on the road to the picturesque Netarhat hills in Gumla district of Jharkhand. But it made headlines after a 11th standard girl from the village – Ashtam Oraon – was selected into the Indian team for the ongoing U-17 football World Cup, and later was also made the captain of the team.
As the news spread, the district administration sanctioned around 700 metres of plain-cement-concrete road, which connects Gorratoli with the state highway, under the district mineral foundation trust (DMFT).
While the initiative was a recognition of Ashtam’s achievement, the road project also brought to light the irony — her parents Heeralal Oraon and Tara Devi worked as labourers when this road was constructed and completed earlier this week.
“My engagement in this work may be unusual for outsiders but not for me because this is what we do for a living. Besides, the daily wage is satisfying for us as parents because we feel we contributed in the road being constructed in the name of our daughter,” Oraon said.
Oraon’s tale not only mirrors the struggle of their family, magnifying the achievement of his daughter for the odds she must have encountered in making a name for herself in the field of sport, but also of other five players from Jharkhand who are part of the U-17 World Cup team.
Almost all of them come from similar poor backgrounds from different districts of Jharkhand.
Besides Ashtam, five others from the state who are representing India include Purnima Kumari, Nitu Linda, Anita Kumari, Sudha Tirkey and Anjali Munda.
Anita Kumari hails from Chariujir village under Kanke block of Ranchi. Fourth among five sisters, Anita’s family could hardly make ends meet. Her younger sister Vinita Kumari is also a football player and has already represented Jharkhand in the U-14 category.
“My three sisters are married. Father is bedridden and it’s mainly my mother who earned livelihood for us working as daily wager. Had it not been Anand sir, neither Anita nor I could have thought of doing anything beyond what my mother was doing,” Vinita said.
Anand Gope is local coach who has been helping young girls take up football as a career option through his ‘Right To Kick’ initiative. He provides coaching to girls free of cost. Anand, who started his campaign in 2013, says he currently has over 200 girls training at different locations under him.
“I feel proud that two of my girls, Anita Kumari and Nitu Linda, are currently representing India at the World Cup. These girls joined my campaign as 6-7-year-olds. All girls training under me come from poor backgrounds. I too face a lot of difficulty in running this campaign due to lack of funds, but their success inspires me to take this further,” Anand, who works as a data entry operator at a private firm for a living, said.
Describing Nitu Linda’s background, he said while her mother is no more, her father is bedridden.
“Nitu has five other siblings. But one of her brothers, Shandaar Orain, and elder sister Gitu Linda have been helping Nitu since childhood. Dhanesar himself is a daily wager,” Anand said.
Despite all odds, he says, they are excited with their achievement and are crowd-sourcing their funds to make a trip to Bhubaneswar where the Indian team will be playing its last match.
“We are crowd-funding for the expenses. We also met the local MLA. Hope we are able to make it,” Anand said.
