Mumbai women are champs of Maharashtra

At a time when everyone's talking about the Indian Super League (ISL) and the I-League returning to Mumbai after five years, the women's team of the city have sent out a gentle reminder that they too want to be counted. They retained the Maharashtra inter-district football crown by beating Gondia 1-0 in Jalgaon, late on Tuesday. FYI, they've been in the final for the third consecutive year.

"Technically, we perform better than the men's team of Mumbai. But somehow, not much publicity is given to our achievements, though people have started to notice us," said a squad member. She's right. The men's team failed to make it to the knockouts of the inter-district tournament held recently.

Apart from the team doing well, there are quite a few women from Mumbai who are making all the right noises in football. One of them is 23-year-old goalkeeper Durva Vahia. So impressed with her performance was the city association that they decided to name her as vice-captain of the team, despite being one of the junior members of the team.

The Indian probable, who's scheduled to leave for pre-Olympic camp in Badri (Uttar Pradesh), feels that a lot of parents are wary of allowing their kids to take up football professionally. Vahia, who spent a year in the USA on a football scholarship, says that for women's football to grow, people have to be accepting.

"In the USA, every one was so accepting of athletes. They don't see any harm in playing a sport as a career. Whereas in India, most people ridicule me when I tell them that I play football for a living. They can't believe that we can actually make a living, especially being a woman. Thankfully for me, my parents were supportive," says the chemistry graduate.

So what's the differences between football in India and USA. "For starters, the infrastructure there is excellent. We had physiotherapy and ice bath sessions after practise every day. Being an athlete is a way of life for them, well as in India, we have to go out of our way to be an athlete. A simple example is that when you play for college, the professors exempt you from certain projects, but in India, they expect you to do everything. Until the mentality changes, I don't think the quality of football will get better."

But Vahia, who is an AFC 'C' license coach and currently working with grassroots development for Mumbai City FC, feels that the standard is slowly getting better.

"Last year at the inter-district competition, we won hands down. There was no real competition. But this year, we were tested right from the quarterfinal stage. In just one year, a lot has improved I guess."

She was more stunned by the fact that the Jalgaon team helped organise the tournament. "The team (Jalgaon) lost in the first round, but they still did all the groundwork for the tournament. They made us feel welcome. Even during the tournament, we met well know women personalities. It was such a nice feeling to see that the state association was taking women's football seriously."

And what does she think will be the pinnacle for women's football? "Starting an I-League for us is long overdue. How will we make a living if we don't have a national league? Also, I think the ISL should have a small tournament for women. After all, we have more chances of qualifying for a World Cup."