BHUBANESWAR 17-Sep-2012 168
When it comes to winning glory for India, female sportspersons of Odisha have done the state proud on many occasions. The latest is the retaining of the title in the Women’s South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship at Colombo, where as many as seven girls from Odisha played for the country. It’s different matter that three from the seven (Sasmita Mallick, Suprava Samal and Pinky Bompal Magar) are now working for Railways at Patna and may represent Bihar in different National championships.
Besides the seven players _ the other four being Alochana Senapati, Supriya Routray, Sita Sharma and Lochana Munda _ the champion team’s head coach Mohammad Shahid Jabbar and goalkeeping coach Ranjit Mohanty, also a former international, were also from Odisha.
At the domestic level, senior National and National Games champions Odisha is enjoying the No 1 position in the country. It can be aptly said that Odisha has become the backbone of the senior National women’s football team. Even in junior and age-group level, Odisha girls are making their presence noticeable in national and international competitions.
Because of the state teams’ success, women’s football is witnessing speedy increase in popularity. The sport has helped girls from rural background become stars and improve their economic conditions. It is no wonder that large numbers of little girls are honing their skills, hoping to play for the country in the future.
Behind the success of women’s football in Odisha lies the commendable contribution of individuals namely Nanda Kishore Patnaik, Chandan Chanda, Gangadhar, R K Mandal Kishore Patnaik, Bijay Kumar Kanungo (coaches); Sahadev Rout, Debendra Sharma (both organising officials), the state government, which has been running a hostel for girl footballers in Bhubaneswar and the Football Association of Odisha.
But amidst the success stories, there too lies a bitter truth _ in women football rankings, India occupies a lowly 52nd position in the world and 11th in Asia. The country has not yet qualified for the main draw of Asian championship, let alone the Asian Games, Olympic Games and World Cup. While basking in glory, woman footballers of Odisha need to work with more zeal, improve their standard further and strive to achieve greater success.
