These footballers get a kick by beating odds

The women's football team from Alakhpura in Bhi wani may not have won much-needed facilities from the government. But the Subroto Cup winners have certainly won hearts with their verve.
Sanju Yadav is the youngest woman player of the Indian football team. Samiksha Jakhar has been part of the Indian team in the under-14 and under-16 categories.Raveena Yadav and Poonam Sharma Yadav are part of the Indian women football team national camp.
In view of their extraordinary achievements, railways and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have given jobs to four girls. Since they have already played in countries like Kazakhstan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Jordan, China and Bangladesh, they have passports. But behind their achievements are stories of grit, passion and deprivation.
Sonika Bijarnia, the government-appointed football coach, feels the village has the potential to be the football hub of the country. "Despite limited facilities and resources, the girls beat teams from the north-eastern states, which have traditionally played football. If basic facilities like a well-developed ground, adequate number of balls and other accessories are provided, the village can become a nursery of football players in the country," she said.
They use bricks as marking cones and a bamboo ladder as speed ladder.
In the absence of a sportsperson's diet, building physical strength is not a mean task. According to Sonika, most of the girls are from poor families. As such, the scholarship and award money they receive is used to meet general household expenditure by their families. Therefore, the girls are deprived of diet required for the practice.
"Some diet allowance in the form of food articles can be of immense help. If it is provided, we can give them requisite food immediately after practice. Otherwise, we face the serious problem of nutritional deficiency among the girls despite them being good players," Sonika said.
Gordhan Dass, the physical training instructor posted at Government Senior Secondary School was surprised at the prowess shown by the girls when he introduced the game in the village school in 2006. "Initially, a few girls volunteered.But as results started showing, 300 players started to come for practice in the evening," he said.
Further improvement was noticed with the appointment of a woman coach, he said, adding that they still have to fight for basic facilities. "If the sports department focuses a little on these players and provides them with basic facilities, we can produce international players. As of now we are surviving with the contribution and encouragement of villagers, who started pitching in when the girls showed results," Gordhan said.