Kalsindur paved the way
In December last year, Bangladesh's Under-14 Girls team made the entire nation proud. They did the unthinkable. They edged past hosts Nepal by a single goal and aced the AFC Under-14 Girls Regional Championship. This was the first time that a Bangladeshi women's football team won a trophy, at any level.
Four months on, and they are on the verge of repeating the feat, this time in Tajikistan. Having beaten India 3-1 and thumping Nepal 9-0, the girls are now just one win away from reaching the final of the tournament.
What is amazing is the immense contribution that the girls from the Kalsindur Government Primary School of Dhobaura Upazila are continuing to make. 10 players from the school were a part of the team last year and eight are representing the national team this year and they have already made a huge impact. Of the 12 goals that Bangladesh have scored in the tournament this year, nine came from the girls from Kalsindur.
The likes of Shamsunnahar, Nazma, Maria Manda, Tohura Khatun and Marzia have dazzled yet again. While these girls played last year, there has also been an additional player from the school, Sajeda Khatun, representing the women in green.
These girls are household names in their respective towns today. Almost every other girl from the school wants to be the next Marzia and make a name for themselves. However, to come to this point, they have had to overcome several obstacles.
And no one can better explain these problems than their school coach, Mohammad Mofizuddin.
Back in 2011 when he had set out to form a girls football team, Mofizuddin was described as a madman, a marriage destroyer and a master who is only capable of playing football with girls.
For a brief period, the discouraging remarks had almost compelled him to quit preparing the girls for the inaugural Bangamata Gold Cup five years ago -- a competition which his school went on to win for two consecutive years in 2013 and 2014.
“Those days were difficult,” Mofizuddin said with a tinge of regret in his tone. “They all just asked the same question: why will girls play football? What's in it for them?”
After coming across an advertisement for the Bangamata Gold Cup in 2011, Mofizuddin approached the school's headmistress in a bid to participate in the competition.
“We barely found girls who wanted to play. It was a new concept. I had to force certain sections to take part in the selection round.
“Once we gathered 17 players, we had to then deal with their parents. Because most of them were conservative, we had to work really hard to convince them.
“There was this one guardian who blamed me for supposedly spoiling his niece's future. 'She runs around outside all day. No one will marry her because of you,' he lamented. I told him that if she keeps improving at this rate, she can get married anywhere she wants to,” recalled Mofizuddin.
As time progressed, the practice sessions became more serious. From merely kicking balls around during lunch breaks the girls started attending training sessions. But that's when several other problems surfaced.
“The girls weren't willing to wear half-pants or three-quarters. They used to play wearing salwar kameez, which made it difficult for them to run. It took them time to accept the jerseys.
“In the midst of all this, there were ridiculous comments made against us. Once when I was going to school in the morning, a couple of men pointed towards me and said, 'look there goes the master who plays with the girls.'
“There was this other time when the headmistress's son and I were watering the field after training. Two people walked by and teased us. 'Look at those mad men. So this is what the madam's son is doing after finishing his master's degree,' they taunted.”
It took some time, but the people living around the school eventually came around.
“We live in a backward region and most of the guardians either grow crops or pull rickshaws for their living. But the support that we got from them eventually was really great.
“Some of them came to practise in the evening and brought chocolates with them. One of them gave my students free rides back home. The mentality changed a lot once we started winning games,” said Mofizuddin.
The main difference between the Kalsindur Government Primary School and the other institutions is dedication, according to Mofizuddin.
“Between 2011 and 2013, the girls trained every single day. It may sound like I am exaggerating, but that's the truth. They were so determined that they even wanted to practise during the Eid holidays.
“Once we started winning games, football became a source of inspiration for them. It turned out to be a way for them to travel outside the Upazila, something that most of them couldn't think of doing,” he says.
“It was also a way for them to delay their marriage. I have a student, Taslima, who studies in class nine. She trained under me in 2011. Her sister got married when in class four, but Taslima still isn't married and continues to play in high school,” Mofizuddin adds.
Today the school follows a strict six-day training schedule. “The students here know that if they do well, they can earn plenty of respect because they have seen their seniors earn that. For example, Sanjida Akter played under me in 2011.
“Today she plays for the national team and the chairman of the Upazila invites her father over for tea every now and then. This is something that Sanjida could not have even imagined before,” explains Mofizuddin.
A move that was initially feared and expected to spoil the future of these girls has gone on to become a lifeline for these young footballers, for it is through this means that many of them now yearn to achieve the dreams that previously seemed light years away.
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