Mizo footballer looking to succeed as coach after injury cut short her playing career
Things may be changing for better for women sportspersons in the country with events like last year's FIFA U17 Women's World Cup or the upcoming inaugural season of Women's Premier League in cricket. Yet talent still remains just one of the many factors determining a woman's advancement in the field of sports.
Ask Mizo footballer Gospel Vanlalsawmi and she could give a testimony to the extra mile a woman athlete needs to scale for the love of the game. At a time when viewership for women's football is soaring worldwide and pay equality with men has been grabbing the spotlight in debates, 19-year-old Gospel is still fighting the battle to be on the field and stay part of her favourite sport.
The starry-eyed fan of Mesut Ozil — her football idol — faced the objection of her parents when as a seven-year-old she fell in love with the game. However, all their opposition could not stop Gospel from pursuing her love, behind her parents' back and playing with the boys in her village.
"I would play everywhere where my parents couldn't see me or know I was," recalled Gospel in an interview with the TOI from Aizawl. "Soon, the coach in my village club saw me playing and wanted me to train."
However, her chance to impress her parents came when as an 11-year-old she won the Mizoram School League with some exceptional performance for her school in 2014 and forced a temporary end to her parents' displeasure towards her playing.
It led to Gospel getting to train and improving her skills as a footballer. The hard work paid off when the attacking footballer helped her club Vakiria FC win the inaugural Mizoram Women's Football League in 2019. She was also part of the state U17 team at the National Championships and part of the Mizoram squad at the National Games in 2022.
But the past came to haunt Gospel soon after as her parents dissuaded her from active sports on the pretext of an injury she suffered at the 2014 School Games in Kolkata when the goalkeeper accidentally kicked her in the chest during a match.
Even without proper medical diagnosis, the injury dealt a deadly blow to her aspirations as a footballer and she stopped playing at the behest of her parents. However, the history of women's sports is not just one of frustration but also filled with determination.
Instead of leaving her passion behind, Gospel was back in the field this year as the coach of Mount Carmel School and helped her school claim the Reliance Foundation Youth Sports Football 2022-23 Aizawl City Championship title, albeit from the sidelines.
The win seemed to have opened new avenues for the teenager who is eager to grab any opportunity to keep football as a part of her life. "I would still like to represent India as a footballer someday. But, for now, the most logical thing to do for me would be to complete a C-Licence in coaching," said Gospel, who is pursuing studies as a laboratory technician, a profession that her parents want her to pursue.
However, with initiatives like those by RYFS or the Mizoram Football Association lending support to grassroots and women's football development, Gospel — like many unknown others before her — will strive to keep alive their love for sports.
