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| When there is a will, there is a way’ goes the popular saying. Living up to this adage are 10 teams of girl students from Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) schools undergoing rigorous training to play their first football premier corporation league in the city. Braving all odds, these girl students hailing mostly from humble backgrounds, spend hours on the field practicing. On Friday, the delight on their faces while procuring the new football kit provided by the Navi Mumbai Livescore24 sports department was a sight to behold. Players took extreme care while trying their new jerseys and walking to the field wearing their brand new studs. “These girls come from dire backgrounds and have little backing from their parents. Getting to wear proper sports attire is a huge thing in itself. So their fear of practicing with the new kit is only understandable,” said Pradip Mustad, sports teacher of NMMC School No. 103. Following the AFC Women’s Asian Football Cup 2022, NMMC sports department decided to have its own all-girls football team. In just four months, the sports department formed 10 girls teams Football selected from 70-odd NMMC schools spread over 10 nodes of the city. This initiative was suggested by officials to give students studying in civic schools early exposure to the sport. Shivani Ramprasad Jaiswal, a 15-year-old resident of Diwagaon in Airoli and also a national-level kho-kho player, said, “I can’t explain my happiness as I am not only getting this amazing opportunity to learn a new sport but also will be able to play a match. Since I love sports, I was already training for kho-kho in the morning and now during the school hours, I practice football. Since there is a lot of leg work in football, I am trying to increase my stamina by running long stretches on the playground.” She is prepared to face any amount of hardship just to receive training. Youngest of four siblings, Shivani’s life has been of extreme struggle. To support the meagre earnings of her father working as a security guard, the teenager who is preparing for the upcoming board exams has taken up a part-time job at a local clothes shop. “My father is an alcoholic. Whatever he earns barely fulfils our needs. To support my ailing mother and household expenses, I have been working in the clothes shop after school,” she said. Resonating the same enthusiasm is Shivani’s classmate, 15-year-old Saraswati Vishwakarma, who multi-tasks as kho-kho player in the mornings and as a part-time tutor to neighbourhood kids in the evenings. “It is a dream-come-true moment for me as I have always loved watching football matches but never got the chance to play. Playing football is a different experience and I am enjoying every moment spent on the field,” she said. To ensure maximum participation from the students, the administration did not keep any restriction of age group. Class teachers were instructed by the department to identify students from Classes 5 to 10 having some flair to undergo training in the sport. “Football as a sport was never played within NMMC schools until now. In the wake of the AFC Women’s Asian Football Cup 2022, one of the requirements was to promote the sports within the city. We considered this to be an ideal opportunity to groom our own students,” said the DMC (Sports), Manoj Kumar Mahale. To aid the selection process, NMMC sport department provided basic football training to the teachers through two special camps. Accordingly, 24 civic teachers are now e-licensed coaches authorised by All India Football Federation (AIFF). The necessary logistical support was provided by the Thane Zilla Football Association. “Until now, NMMC only hosted leagues wherein outsiders played. This time around, the thought was there to identify and groom inhouse talents. Our teachers are also aware about the way the sport is played. I can almost see that there are chances of lower standard students taking the sport seriously and playing at the district or even State-level in the future,” said the NMMC sports officer, Abhilasha Mhatre. The teams formed are set to play the league match in the first week of March. “There is no dearth of talent in NMMC schools and especially with regard to girls. However, with no guidance post their schooling, most end up losing track. Systematic efforts like this football event could give at least some of them a means to proceed further in life,” added sports teacher Mustad. |
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