A 10-year-old Nadiya Nighat played football for the first time with a bunch of boys from her neighbourhood. She loved kicking the ball around so much, that’s all she wanted to do. But the love affair was formalised only later. “I started getting serious about football in 2007, when I met Coach Mohammad Abdullah. He’s the only coach I’ve trained under and whatever I am today is because of him. Even today, if I feel like I’m not playing well, or if I’m having difficulties with my game, I go to him for guidance.” This fortuitous meeting happened at the Amar Singh College Academy, where Nighat was the only girl in a class of 48.
“Earlier, when I would step out of my house to play, my neighbours and relatives would say things like, ‘You’re a girl, you shouldn’t play football,’ but today, the same people are proud of my achievements and give me their blessings. In fact, my father supported me more than my mother. Eventually, however, she realised that I was actually good at it.”
So good, in fact, that soon Nighat began training to be a coach at the Jammu and Kashmir Football Association (JKFA). From here, she earned her D-License and started coaching the under-16 and under-19 batches—she was barely older than her students. Her age, she says, has helped her students connect with her, and more often than not, they ask her to play with them. Although there were instances earlier when the boys would tease Nighat for playing a ‘boys’ game’, today, watching her ace the game has changed their perspective.
The 21-year-old once had ambitions to represent India on the global field. She laughs, “I’m not sure if that is possible now that I’m over 20. Ideally, you should start playing professionally before you hit 19. And when I started playing football, Kashmir didn’t have a girls’ football team. I figured there was no point in wasting time waiting for a girls’ team to be formed, so I made the best of what I had.” So now the goalpost has shifted. “My time might have gone, but I plan to train other girls who can represent India in international football, and I hope to play for the team too.”
She has a real chance of making that happen, thanks to her recent appointment as a coach at the State Football Academy, which is the J&K State Sports Council’s club. Nighat is pumped about the future. “There’s so much talent in the country, all we need is someone to hone it. Even in Kashmir, where there are so many troubles, we have so much budding football talent. Kashmiri players like Ishfaq Ahmed, Basit Ahmed, and Mohammed Asrar Renbar have played internationally. We just need the right coaching and facilities to really shine.”
Nighat draws inspiration from her sporting idols, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. She wears her love for the Portuguese star on her jersey: JJ7. It refers to her nickname, Jiya Jaan, and Ronaldo’s jersey number. JJ7 is also the name of Nighat’s football club where she coaches under-19 girls’ and boys’ teams. It’s a job that keeps her on her feet and fighting fit. “Much of my exercise comes from running. I run every morning, and we have practice sessions in the mornings and evenings. I believe that if there’s something you want to do from your heart, the motivation to work towards it comes automatically.”
Nighat may have a point there, but how does she deal with authorities who still believe women and football don’t quite go together? As someone who once delivered a shock to the system by becoming her state’s first female coach, this young Kashmiri is hopeful. “For the first time, India’s national women’s football team has a woman coach (Maymol Rocky). The only thing left to do now is to get more and more girls to try out football. Mostly, it’s the parents who are not open to the idea of their daughters playing the game. To those parents I would say, don’t stop your daughters from chasing their dreams. If they have the talent, let them play.”
Source: https://www.femina.in/achievers/meet-nadiya-kashmirs-female-football-coach-75009.html
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