Dribbling past hardships

A group of talented girls from Raisen has emerged as a formidable force in MP soccer. Anuraag Singh brings their inspirational story to us

- MADHYA PRADESH

RAISEN district has hardly ever been a force to reckon with in competitive soccer in Madhya Pradesh. A bunch of talented girls from economically weak families, who took to competitive football in January only, however, are determined to turn their district into a major soccer force in the central Indian state.

Out of nowhere, much to the surprise of fancied teams like Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Neemuch, Dhar, Chhindwara and Singrauli, the Raisen girls, mostly hailing from economically weak families, won the senior state women soccer title in Balaghat and finished spirited runners up in the U-17 championship in Singrauli.

Emerging as the unassailable wall of defence in the goal, 16-year-old Nidhi Nagar is the second among three sisters and one brother. Her plumber father suffered a paralytic attack two years back and in the want of adequate medical treatment remains confined to bed now, forcing Nidhi, her mother and two sisters to prepare papad (poppadom) in their kutcha house, which fetches them a meagre earnings of about Rs 5,000 per month.