Kicking the stereotype
Confident and self-assured may not necessarily be traits one associates with teenagers, but Sharmin, Mohini, Shagufta, and Teena – alumni from Enabling Leadership’s ‘EL Play’ program – are four such youth who not only embody those traits but also disarm you with their ease instantaneously. Having recently passed their Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exams from a school in a suburban area in Northern Mumbai, the feisty four have stories to tell about what it’s like to play like a girl!
Not only are they first generation learners – belonging to a community where most are daily wage earners – but are also trailblazing icons; all thanks to their seven years and counting devotion for the beautiful game of football.
Back to the start
“We were in the third or fourth standard when football coaching was introduced at school for girls”, reminisces Mohini. “Until then, only boys were allowed to play. We didn’t know better either because even on the television we had only watched boys or men play the sport”, quips Shagufta. “That’s why initially our mothers’ discouraged us from playing”, Sharmin discloses.
“For the first year or so, our families didn’t know we were playing football. They knew we were out playing.” says Mohini, while Teena adds, “For us, it was an outlet to play on the field – something we wouldn’t have gotten the opportunity for were it not for football.”
Tackling neighbours
But that changed when neighbours began questioning the girls’ mothers about their whereabouts. So what did the girls do when their parents – especially their mothers – began to oppose? They adopted a few strategies.
“I would quietly listen while helping out with the household chores”, chimes Teena, while Mohini jumps in saying, “Earlier my mother would scold me for not helping around the house and running off to play. But after I started effectively juggling my responsibilities at home along with my studies while still running off to play, she began to calm down.”
“It was not that easy for me so I would break down, start crying and pleading every time they threatened to stop me,” confesses Sharmin.
Within a conservative community where the girl-child isn’t allowed half the liberties a boy-child has, what happened when the comments from neighbours began to target the girls for wearing shorts as is required by the sport? “I just ignored it. That’s all I could do”, says Mohini in a matter of fact way. Sharmin, on the other hand, would leave home wearing track pants and change into her kit only after reaching the ground.
“Even though my family has been relatively supportive as my father has been a footballer himself, when we wouldn’t win matches initially, it did get difficult to ignore the discouraging opinions and taunts at home. It was only after we began winning the matches that our families stopped discounting our passion for the sport”, admits Shagufta.
Becoming a force to reckon with
Witnessing them echoing similar sentiments and complementing each other’s opinions, it’s difficult to imagine them having been anything but this tight knit. But, as Teena puts it wisely, “We know each other better now because of this shared journey.”
Quiz them more and Mohini adds, “We used to fight, blame each other and bicker a lot initially. We were hardly a team in the real sense of the word.” “We would make fun and ridicule the other. There was zero trust.”, recollects Shagufta.
Sharmin attributes much of the change to their coach, Ashraf, and the others nod in agreement.
“Ashraf Sir taught us not just about the game – technically speaking – but also about values that were integral to the team like learning to respect ourselves and each other. He constantly motivated us – especially when we weren’t winning matches” she adds. “He’s never scolded us. He’s taught us to reflect on ourselves and our game – that led to many other changes”, mentions Mohini.
Prodding them further about these changes, Teena reveals that she stopped feeling jealous because of someone else’s achievements and instead learned how to partake in another’s moment of joy, while Sharmin adds she learned to be patient and trust herself as well as the team that when the time was right, things would add up.
The collective experience helped Shagufta own her strengths and play confidently allowing her to score goals. For Mohini, it was understanding the meaning of leadership while being the team’s captain that taught her how a leader isn’t one who is bossy or directs orders to the team but treats everyone equally.
No more a male bastion
From encouraging neighbours and friends to join the practice sessions to coaching peers as a side-gig, these young girls have pushed the envelope on the importance of sport for girls and women beyond the realization of their own dreams. They demonstrate what it means to play like a girl!
As alumni of the EL Play program, this is far from the end of the road for them. They’ve earned their independence, have proven their mettle and are just as fired up to keep showing up while leveraging both, their football and leadership skills.
Photos: Mohit Kapil
Filmed by: Mohit Kapil
Film edited by: Grant Davis
Written by: Elita Almeida
