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A football ground in Gujarat's Patan district is becoming a launchpad for young girls, helping them pursue sport alongside education and challenging traditional barriers that once limited their opportunities.
In Mahadevpura village, primary school teacher and football coach Rangatji Thakor has been training girls free of cost since 2010. What began with a school sports competition has grown into a sustained grassroots football initiative, with more than 100 girls taking up the sport and over 52 reaching national-level competitions. Thakor said his own journey into football began when a physical education teacher, Raju Bhai Chaudhary, encouraged him to play during a school sports competition. Footballs provided free of cost to schools by the Gujarat Police helped him form a team and participate in the Khel Mahakumbh. Over the years, the village ground has become a space where girls can develop sporting skills while continuing their education. Kamuben Thakor, a football player from a farming family, has completed teacher training and is pursuing graduation while representing Gujarat at national championships. A monthly scholarship of around Rs 4,500 supports her sporting journey, while encouragement from her family enables her to balance academics and competitive sport. She said that earlier, girls in the village had fewer opportunities for education and sports and were often married at a young age. The growing presence of football in the village, she said, is encouraging girls to remain in education and helping prevent child marriages. For players like Bhavana Thakor, the journey has opened a path from local competitions to the national stage. She began playing football at the age of 13, securing first positions at district and state levels before progressing to national competition. At a national championship in Ajmer in 2019, she secured second place. Thakor said that since the launch of Khel Mahakumbh in 2010, around 22 girls from his school have reached the national level, with nearly 20 winning national medals. The school has also secured positions from first to third in around 60 state-level competitions and won multiple trophies. Beyond medals and championships, football is creating wider opportunities for girls in Mahadevpura. The sport is helping them stay in school, pursue higher education, build confidence and develop aspirations for careers and greater independence. The transformation taking place on the village football ground highlights how access to organised sport can become a powerful tool for social change, enabling rural girls to move beyond traditional constraints and compete on larger platforms. (ANI)
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