Mithila Ramani, a member of India’s inaugural women’s futsal team that won silver at the SAFF Women’s Futsal Championship, has never followed a conventional path. A defensive midfielder (CDM) in football and a pivot in futsal, Mithila’s journey is one defined by balance — between sport and academics, ambition and patience, dreams and reality.
Born into a highly academic family, with both parents being engineers, Mithila was always expected to follow a traditional professional route. Yet, sport was a constant in her life from a very young age. “I’ve always been a very sporty kid,” she recalls. Swimming, badminton, basketball — anything that took her out of the classroom caught her attention. Football entered her life around 2008–09, when she was in the sixth standard at Omega International School in Chennai. A teacher noticed a group of girls playing casually and encouraged them to attend a summer camp. At the time, there was no girls’ football team in the school, and Mithila and her friends went on to form the first one.
From there, football became inseparable from her identity. Inter-school tournaments, CBSE competitions and South Zone Nationals followed, all within Chennai. Despite her growing love for the game, Mithila was realistic about the lack of professional pathways for women footballers at the time. The Indian Women’s League (IWL) did not exist then, and the idea of football as a career felt impossible to justify. As a result, she chose to pursue engineering, majoring in chemical engineering at an engineering college under Anna University.
College life, however, only strengthened her connection with sport. While she completed her engineering degree successfully, Mithila found her true joy in being involved with sport beyond just playing. She represented her college in basketball, served in the student council as sports secretary — an uncommon role for women in engineering colleges — and took pride in organising tournaments and sporting events. “Sport grounded me,” she says. “It helped me focus academically and gave me clarity in everything I did.”
By her third year in college, Mithila realised that chemical engineering was not the career she wanted. The off-field aspects of sport — organisation, leadership, event management — fascinated her. After difficult conversations with her parents, she made a deal: six months to explore opportunities in sport, failing which she would return to engineering. That decision changed her life.
Her first internship was with Decathlon, which brought her from Chennai to Bengaluru. The move proved pivotal. Bengaluru’s open culture and strong football ecosystem gave her both playing and professional opportunities. She joined Parikrama FC, began competing at the club level, and simultaneously started building her career in sports management. She later worked with Sisters in Sweat, a women-centric sports community, where she headed operations for three years and worked on several grassroots initiatives for women’s sport.
Despite her off-field growth, Mithila felt an unfinished chapter as a player. Representing India had been a dream since she was 15, and she continued playing without expectations — Super Division, IWL, IWL 2—purely for the love of the game. In 2023, she chose to formalise her learning by enrolling at the International Academy of Sports Science and Technology (AISDS), gaining exposure to global sport through campus immersions and a programme in Lausanne, Switzerland, the Olympic capital.
Currently, Mithila is with Kemp FC in Bengaluru, where she balances a dual role, playing competitively while working in the founder’s office. Her responsibilities include hosting tournaments and fundraisers, managing sponsorships, and marketing women’s football to brands. “Many brands are surprised to learn how developed women’s football already is,” she says. With India’s women’s teams qualifying across age groups for the AFC competitions, she believes awareness and opportunities are finally growing.
Futsal, though, she entered almost organically. Initially, it was a recreational extension of football, played in apartment courts, college grounds, and local 3v3 tournaments. With no formal women’s futsal structure in India, it remained a side activity until national team trials aligned with her schedule in 2024. She attended the trials in November and was selected for India’s first-ever women’s futsal team, which went on to win silver at the SAFF Championship.
Representing India was deeply emotional. “I dreamt of this at 15 and achieved it at 28,” she says. The transition from local courts to international competition was intense. Futsal demanded quicker decision-making and punished errors instantly. “It’s a cruel sport,” she admits, adding that futsal sharpens players and makes them better footballers. She strongly believes that a strong futsal culture can elevate Indian football, much like it has in Latin America and Europe.
While India lacks a professional women’s futsal league, Mithila hopes to continue playing at competitive levels in both futsal and football. She will represent Kemp FC in the upcoming IWL 2 season and remains open to future opportunities, including trials abroad, particularly in futsal. “You don’t know when your dreams will come true,” she says. “You just have to keep them alive.”
Her parents, once sceptical, are now her biggest supporters. They watched every match of the SAFF Championship, proudly sharing her journey with friends and colleagues. “It felt like a full-circle moment,” Mithila reflects. “From fighting with them as a teenager to seeing them celebrate my achievements, it was pure contentment.”
Among her role models, Mithila names Indian women’s team captain Ashalata Devi for her leadership and presence. She also deeply admires Sunil Chhetri for his longevity and resilience. “When people tell you it’s time to retire, that’s often when you perform your best,” she says, drawing parallels with her own journey.
Looking ahead, Mithila’s message is clear. She wants young girls to know they don’t have to choose between academics and sport. “Sometimes it takes time, but it’s worth it,” she says. “Sport builds character, decision-making, resilience, leadership, and these qualities carry into every aspect of life.”
In Mithila Ramani’s story lies a powerful reminder: dreams may take longer than expected, but with patience, balance, and belief, they find their way home.
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