- Title: INDIA: SOCCER - Remote Sikkim state aims to build a champion women's soccer team
- Date: 5th November 2005
- Summary: SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) COLAMIT LEPCHA, A FOOTBALL PLAYER, SAYING: "Many girls in my village play football. My father was a footballer too. Though he was not very famous or successful, he would encourage me. My school too provided an impetus and so I kept on playing on. That's how I have landed so far."
- Embargoed: 20th November 2005 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: India
- Country: India
- Topics: Sports
- Reuters ID: LVA4OON0WL1JKN8DCRRPZUNH3FE5
- Story Text: India's tiny state of Sikkim is training its women footballers to be the best. The state, which is located in the Himalaya mountains and has a population of slightly over half a million people, has a strong tradition in soccer for men with a star in Bhaichung Bhutia, India's number one player who briefly played for Bury Football Club in Britain.
Another small state, Manipur, has dominated women's soccer in recent years and is popularly known as a sports-mad state. Its success has been achieved by careful planning and training. Now Sikkim's Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs has decided to emulate Manipur and promote soccer among young women.
Young women were training on Sunday (November 6) in Gangtok as part of the initiative.
Colamit Lepcha, a player selected by the Sikkim scheme to promote women's football, said she has been lucky to have an encouraging family and school behind her.
"Many girls in my village play football. My father was a footballer too. Though he was not very famous or successful, he would encourage me. My school too provided an impetus and so I kept on playing on. That's how I have landed so far," said Colamit.
The women spoke about their motivation for progressing in the game.
"I wish to train in this game and emerge a very good player who earns a lot of fame and brings laurels to my country, my region, my family and all those who encouraged me. That is the ambition that drives me on," said Sanjana Sharma, another hopeful.
The Sikkim government has had to scout for these talents in their rural and remote schools, and then train them for a major women's national tournament to be held in the Western Indian seaside Goa state.
The young women's trainer, Solomon Lepcha, also the chief coach for the Sikkim state football team, would like some changes in the logistical set up to improve women's soccer in Sikkim.
"The real difficulty with the dream team that we are trying to put together is to be able to assemble the whole lot of them at one site and provide them with academic, diet and sports training with lodging facilities in one place. That is how Manipur women's football team has succeeded. We have girls from all the four districts of Sikkim state. It is vital that we assimilate our resources and remove impediments. Then the parents of these children will also not be so apprehensive of their studies," said Solomon Lepcha.
Players in the male teams have in the past lamented the lack of trained coaches at the grass root level for the football enthusiastic children.
Bhutia, captain of the national team and currently playing for East Bengal Club, has in many interviews spoken of the lack of purpose-built facilities such as training grounds for young athletes and players in India. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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