Playing in different positions has been a learning curve- Samiksha

The youngster has played a crucial role for her club, playing both as a forward, and as a midfielder.

While the senior Indian Women’s Football team has been making statements in the International circuit, India U-19 International Samiksha has been taking baby steps towards her dream – a debut with the Senior Women’s National Team.

Samiksha has shown a lot of promise over the past year, and now is playing for her hometown club FC Alakhpura in the 2018-19 season of the Hero Indian Women’s League in Ludhiana, Punjab. Hailing from Haryana, Samiksha has played a crucial role for her side, playing both as a forward, and as a midfielder.

What further underlines her ability to perform in different positions is that she has even played as a central defender for the Indian side in the SAFF U-18 Women’s Championship in Nepal in 2018, and the AFC U-19 Women’s Championship Qualifiers in Thailand.

“It was learning curve. I’ve played as a forward for my club before, but playing in defence was new. I just stuck to the coach’s advice, and played according to that,” the diminutive Samiksha informed.

“The main aspect is that when you are in the heart of defence, you have to keep the entire team in mind, and play according to that. But when you play as a forward, you know that the team is there to feed you the balls, and you need to concentrate on scoring the goals,” she explained.

Hailing from the village of Alakhpura, Samiksha hails from a family of farmers. The teenage sensation has over the years, gone on to become one of the central figures in her hometown club’s starting XI.

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“My father himself used to drop me at the training ground every day. That gave me extra motivation to train harder,” she stated.

Contrary to the general conception, the village of Alakhpura has been quite encouraging to girls like Samiksha, providing them the encouragement for the future.

“The people in my village gave me a great reception when I went back home after playing for the India junior team. They were all so happy. Seeing them, I am determined to do better, and play for the senior team.”

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Coming from a family that makes its meagre earnings in rural Haryana, it has not been easy, as Samiksha seeked support for a better future. But her exploits in the U-18 SAFF Women’s Championship last year helped her out.

The Haryana Government has a scholarship scheme for players who win medals at the SAFF Championships at any level, and that helped her immensely. “The scholarship support has helped me a lot. We are basically a farming family. We don’t really earn much from that,” she said.