Lalita Boipay (left). Picture credit- Revsportz.
Shourjyani Chatterjee
On the second day of the Empowerment Cup, an initiative by RevSportz, we all got to witness stories of empowerment, determination, hardwork and the hunger to standout in young grassroot-level female players. With two matches being played everyday, numerous players and even the audience proved that football lies at the heart of Bengal.
For example, Lalita Boipay has represented the Indian Under-17 women’s team in the U-17 SAFF Women’s Championship, and U-17 AFC Cup camp. There are many such examples from the Empowerment Cup.
Lalita was 13 when she had decided to take up football. Her sister, an archer, was her inspiration. Lalita, in her heart, was determined that she wanted to be associated with sports and took up football after getting motivated by the boys from her village. Later, she enrolled in a hostel in Ranchi, trained under qualified coaches with access to proper facilities, and excelled in matches and proceeded for the trials.
When asked about the importance of the Empowerment Cup, Lalita said, “yeh important hai kyuki jitna khelenge utna practice milega, experience milega (this tournament is important as it helps us gain experience and gives us more practice).”
The young footballer highlighted the importance of grassroot level development for girls owing to lack of exposure for those coming from remote areas. Lalita, who belongs to Jharkhand, said, “Jharkhand mein players bohut hai but leagues nahi hota isliye aage jana humare liye mushkil hota hai. (there are many players in Jharkhand but since league matches are not organized, it becomes difficult for women to make progress in the sport).”
Now meet Roshni, who had hurt her face trying to head a ball. When this writer, while giving her an ice pack, asked whether she would like to continue playing the match, Roshni was determined to continue. “Mujhe khelna hai( I want to play),” Roshni said, who went on to win the Player of the Match award.
Battling intense pain with her whole face swollen, all Roshni could think about was the fact that her team was behind by a goal and she had to play for her team. Winning the game was all that mattered to her. She took her inspiration from the young boys in her locality and chose football as her dream. Roshni added that she would continue playing as long as she could.
A couple had also come all the way from Serampore to support the young teams. They were just admirers of the sport who came here not to support any team but to enjoy and cherish the sport which is moving further away from values in India.
These moments made us realise that the Empowerment Cup was not only about giving young girls an opportunity to play, it was also about bringing people from different sectors of life together close to the football field.
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