Meet the feisty woman Anjali Shah who is kicking up a storm in men-dominated sporting culture by opening up the field for women. She is a football coach, a co-founder of PIFA sports club and a member of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) Executive Committee. Excerpts from the interview:
Q - You are one of the most influential sports activists of Maharashtra. Where does the Indian society stand in terms of the progress made in sports?
Thank you for the compliment. My struggle from the start has been to have an equal playing field in sports especially for women. I think we have a long way to go for sportswomen to be recognised as equal to men. While men's sport gets all the attention, infrastructure and funding, women still struggle with the very basic issues.
Q - You have served as an advisory on the Maharashtra women’s football committee, managed various women’s teams over the years. What were your experiences?
Managing the Maharashtra state women's teams were the best experience of my life. It brought me in close contact with the players for an extended period which enabled me to find out first hand how these girls had to fight against all odds to be able to continue playing the game. The grit, determination, and perseverance these girls displayed were creditable.
Q – What are you trying to achieve through the 'Girls Get Going' project?
The ‘Girls Get Going’ programme is an endeavour to empower underprivileged girls through football, to keep them off the streets, to enable them to be able to stand up against sexual abuse and to give them meaningful employment through the sport. The programme focuses on educating parents and community of female players, of the social, mental, physical and emotional benefits of playing sports.
Q - Though India is gradually bridging the gap between the genders in various fields, it is tough for a girl who wants to excel in sports to navigate through social constraints, academic pressure and negligence by the governing bodies. Many girls actually succumb to the mounting pressure and give up. As per my observations at the University Ground in Marine Lines, the number of girls keeps decreasing as we move upwards from Under-12s to Under-14s and so forth. What are the ways you suggest we can help these girls stay focused and not give up?
The ‘Girls Get Going’ programme has a ‘Sister in sport’ concept where a privileged player acts as a mentor or big sister to a girl from an underprivileged background enabling her to continue with the sport in spite of social constraint, academic pressure and lack of opportunities. A time management schedule and academic assistance is provided in cases where it is needed and is seen as an important factor to enable the underprivileged girl to manage both the sports and academics.
A constant monitoring of these girls, timely help with academics and counselling parents is the best way to encourage these girls to not drop out. If we can go a step further and provide parents with some groceries and basic necessities it would be a very essential part of getting approval of the parents. Regular health check-ups and medical insurance for the girls and academic tuitions will also help. It would be great if we had the help from the corporate sector in these endeavours. It will help develop a better footballing women population but also overall physically and mentally healthier women workforce for the future.
Q – What led to the initiation of 'PIFA Foundation for the Benefit of Sports'?
Very early on in our journey, we came across hundreds of children who could not afford expensive training yet had the talent and fire to excel at the sport. We wanted to make a difference to the lives of these children and believed that one day some of these players would play for the country. Seventeen years later we had dozens play for the state and country.
Q - You are an entrepreneur and a sports enthusiast/activist. How do you balance both?
To be a sports activist requires funds. Just being passionate about a cause without funds is no good. To enable my activities it is very important for me to ensure constant funding. A proper time management schedule enables me to manage both efficiently.
Q - The biggest obstruction for a woman to take the kind of initiative you took?
The biggest obstruction is being a woman. Society does not yet recognise the role an educated and informed woman can play in the proper administration of a sport. At every stage administrators try to pull the wool over our eyes and manipulate everything. What most they object to is having a woman with an opinion and one who is not afraid of being heard. However, my never give up attitude and resilience have brought even senior administrators to give me written apologies for their misbehavior.
Q - Examples of achievers who were the product of your academy?
Girls from our programme like Namrata Thakur is now a fitness trainer. Afshan Ashiq from Kashmir is a D license coach. Snehal Manchkar is a senior referee.
Q – What are some of the biggest issues faced by women in Indian football particularly and sports in general?
Girls face lots of problems like; Very few opportunities to be scouted for a high level of competition. Very poor or very expensive training infrastructure. very few have separate and clean changing rooms and toilets. Lack of training gear and equipment. Lack of budget to develop the sport for girls. Very few sports awareness camps explaining the benefits of participation in sports. Not enough importance is given to football for girls in schools. And for the underprivileged?
Parents of these girls would rather think they contribute towards earning some money for the household rather than engage in a sport no matter how talented they are. It is a herculean task to explain parents, how in the long-run participation in sports at a high level will ensure the physical, social, mental and emotional well being of the girl.
Q – ‘#EachforEqual’ is the slogan for this International women’s day. Your take?
Each one of woman and man are responsible to make sure we expose at least one underprivileged girl to this beautiful game that can be a life saver for some.
Each one of us is responsible to see that the girls get an equal playing field and same rules, treatment, and accolades as the boys.
