Aditi Chauhan: Women in sports is going to be the future in India

The Blue Tigresses' skipper spoke about the increasing number of opportunities for female footballers in the country.

Earlier this month, India was awarded the hosting rights for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022. During an Instagram live chat session on the Indian Football handle, goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan expressed the collective excitement of the group on learning the news and also thinks that the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup could supply them a few players who might play key part in the Asian Cup in a couple of years.

"Everyone is very excited and looking forward to it. It is a great opportunity and a great platform for all of us. I am sure with the exposure in this U-17 World Cup will help us get some really good players for the Asian Cup also. It works as a dual advantage for us, especially now that we are hosting the AFC Asian Cup as well.”

Further, Aditi Chauhan spoke about the upcoming World Cup's role in not only aiding the development of a talented young batch of Indian girls but also promoting women’s football in India by spreading much-needed awareness to the audience oblivious to their footballing abilities.  

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“I think it is going to have a huge impact. We will get more supporters, more people will be exposed to the idea that women can and should play football. It will be very important in terms of both developing women’s football as well as bringing awareness the people in India about the advantages and importance of sports for a girl child.”

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The Indian women's team has won the SAFF Women’s Championship five times in a row and their latest triumph came in a 3-1 victory over Nepal in the final in 2019. Chauhan credits the noticeable rise in quality of the team to the increased number of international matches played by the side. She believes that the experience gained from these games is simply valuable and cannot be acquired just from training sessions.

“I think it has made a huge difference. If you see the results also, we have constantly improved. As a whole unit, we have been definitely improving. Understanding each other better, we understand the game situations better. We have a lot of youngsters in the team. Especially after Maymol (Rocky) ma'am has taken over as the head coach, she has given opportunities to a lot of youngsters who did not have a lot of experience," she said.

“These international matches and tournaments we have been playing have given us a lot of confidence, understanding. No matter how much and how hard you train, some things you can only learn from a match and cannot be learned from just training.”

The average age of the team has gone down due to the introduction of young faces into the team. This means that the 27-year-old has had to take up a more senior role in the side. She describes herself as a lively presence and someone who likes to fool around and enjoy with her teammates. Nevertheless, she is growing into that role and displaying more maturity as she realises that the youngsters coming into the team look up to her.

Furthermore, the side is becoming more diverse and the custodian believes that there is more competition for places with no member of the team cementing their place in their respective positions.

She remarked, “I think it is one of the most important factors in our team. I have seen over the years, since I started playing, it was majorly dominated by players from Manipur, which still continues to be the fact, but there are a lot more players coming from other states now too. It is becoming more of a diverse team and that brings in different characters, which ultimately helps in unifying the team. It is very diverse and that is one of the strengths of our team and there is a unity in that diversity.”

“The Manipuri players have started to feel the competition from the other players and that is the most important thing. There is always a new kid coming in to challenge for a position. In the past couple of matches, there have been a lot of new faces, new names that have been given opportunities and that is incredible. and that is how I think the team will grow.”

When asked about the current state of women’s football, Aditi Chauhan offered an optimistic view of the situation. The 27-year-old thinks that there has been a considerable improvement in the situation but there still remain cultural barriers that need to be tackled. Nonetheless, she trusts that a bright future awaits for women in football as well as in other sports.

“There is a lot of improvement but again as I have said earlier, there is still a cultural barrier. It will take a lot of time, a lot of effort. We cannot compare ourselves to any other country because our society and culture is very different. It will take time but we have come a long way. I see a lot more girls playing football than it used to be when I started. There are a lot more competitions, a lot more opportunities for girls to compete against each other and the boys.”

"The professional set-up is also taking shape in India so a lot of opportunities are coming up and I am sure in the coming times, women’s football will be the future or rather women in sports is going to be the future. We have been doing so well. In every sport, women have been leading by example and there is a very very bright future but we still have a long way to go,” Aditi Chauhan signed off.