I become me when I play football

My name is Monika Kumari. I am from a small village in India called Hutup, in the state of Jharkhand. I am a coach, workshop facilitator, and a student.

My life changed completely when a sports for development NGO called Yuwa India came into my life. Yuwa focuses on working with girls from impoverished families in rural Jharkhand, using sports and education to build character, confidence, and courage. It is a place where girls realise their importance, fight for their basic human rights and pursue their dreams to achieve a bright future.

My challenges, my solutions

When I joined Yuwa, I was 10 years old. Being a girl, it was difficult to continue attending Yuwa’s programs, because my family wasn’t supportive. To join and continue to avail Yuwa’s programs, and especially to play sports, I had to fight a lot with the society.

As I started growing up, my father told me to stop going for football because I was a girl, and a girl is supposed to stay home and do household chores. He did not approve of me wearing shorts as well. In spite of that, I continued to sneak out of my house to attend Yuwa’s programs. My father supported me only after I had travelled across India to play football. He felt proud when people praised me for what I had achieved.

Before joining Yuwa, my days were limited to my home and looked like this: cooking, cleaning, washing dishes, sweeping the house, not attending school, not studying and staying home all day with my mother because we were not allowed to go anywhere. After joining Yuwa, I continued to do household chores,but at the same time I also studied, played, and coached.

My mother is my biggest support. She is not very educated and got married at the age of 14, against her will. She was determined to not let that happen to her daughters too. People told her that football was not made for girls and she should stop sending her daughter. But she continued to fight for me so that I could continue to attend Yuwa’s program. If she had not supported me I would not have been what I am today.

In 2015, I joined Yuwa school, and it was the first time I was studying in an English-medium private school. The Yuwa school had a minimal fee, though my father refused to pay this because he agreed with societal views that girls should not be educated. Therefore, I formed my own team of girls and started coaching them to make money to support my studies. I wanted to study so that I could be independent and have the freedom to do whatever I wanted with my life. In rural India, girls have to go through a lot of obstacles in life to achieve their dreams.

Abudant exposure opportunities

I have been very fortunate to be a part of Yuwa. This has allowed me to travel across India and the world. I got selected to attend leadership programs organised by Goals for Girls twice in Delhi, both as a player and as a coach. I also got selected to attend another leadership program held by Youth Football Club, Punjab. I have been to Spain twice – once to play in the Donosti Cup in 2016, an international football tournament, and the second time to participate in a football coaches training by Real Sociedad team coach in 2017.

In 2019, I was accepted to be a part of the Inspiring Girls Expedition in the United States. I travelled alone to America and went hiking to Mount Baker in Washington. I was the only girl from outside the US selected for this program. Through this program, I learned teamwork, how to motivate others and how to support and help others in difficult situations. This trip was educational and inspirational for me.

Being a role model

I have coached little girls between the ages of 10 to 12 years at Yuwa. They see me as their role model. They want to study, coach, earn and be independent like me and avoid being a child bride. I used to visit the girls' houses, to make their parents understand why sports and education is extremely important for girls and why they should support them. And if they continued to support them, the girls would make them proud like I did.

Currently, I am volunteering at a sports for development NGO in Nepal called Atoot. Atoot is a non-profit organisation which uses football, educational classes and life skill workshops to educate and empower rural girls in Nepal.

In the villages where Atoot works, girls are married off when they are children. There is no awareness of girls' education and sports. Girls of Dohani and Lodhpur villages don’t know about football at all. I volunteered to share my experiences and learnings with the girls of these villages and show that girls can do anything if they want.

I am 20 years old now – unmarried, educated, travelling across the world and earning for myself and my family. Girls and the community can see that girls can also get educated, be independent and earn for their family, defeating the myth that only boys can be the breadwinners of a family. The Atoot staff and I do a lot of community engagement so that not only girls but parents also change their mindsets and let the girls study and play. I also share my story with the girls there. I tell them that they could also become like me someday, but for that they need to fight for themselves every single day and not lose hope. Be positive and grateful. The world is waiting for them.

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Monika Kumari is from India, working towards bringing about changes in communities through sports & education and empowering girls in rural villages of India and Nepal.